The Adventurous Little Crab!

Once in a while, you come across something in the garden that sort of amuses. I was taking a break from cutting grass and sitting in my favorite chair in the rose garden, when a small critter ran across my foot. At first, I was a tad bit startled as I thought it was a spider and I have already been bitten by those far too many times! But closer inspection revealed that this was not something that should frighten me at all..it was a Fiddler Crab. A Fiddler Crab in the rose garden?? Now that is not where she belongs! Fiddler Crabs should be down closer to the marsh! They should be digging burrows in the mud, not in my garden! I watched her as she tried to maneuver through the lawn. The grass presented quite the difficult situation for this tiny crustacean! She would sidle between blades with some of her legs only to get stuck with the others. Still she did not give up..she kept trying and soon reached her goal...the railroad tie that edges the tiered section of the garden. The railroad tie would have seemed to be an insurmountable object but the little crab kept going. Climbing was evidently a lot easier than navigating through grass! I pondered.."Just what does she think she is going to do once there?"

The rose garden is several hundred feet from the marsh edge where all the other Fiddler Crabs were holding their usual confab. There, in the marsh, were thousands of Fiddler Crabs. They were all doing crabby things like digging burrows and eating. The males were busy waving their one gargantuan claw about trying to intimidate all of the lesser males and the females were busy admiring the intimidating claw. This being the usual daily procedure for Fiddler Crabs. Not this little crab..she was busy exploring the gardens! I am not sure just how long she had been in the rose garden nor just what inspired her to make the trek all the way up the hill. Perhaps she had just heard about the sweet-smelling flowers there and had to see for herself. Perhaps she was going to visit a neighboring crab and got lost. Perhaps a bird had picked her up with the intention of eating her and somehow dropped her far, far away from her home. Somehow she ended up in the garden and now she sat on the railroad tie. She stayed there for a good twenty minutes..just looking around..admiring the view. She was a rogue crab! She had broken out of the usual rut of other crabs and had been adventurous!

Finally, she climbed down the other side of the railroad tie and made her way to the board path that leads to the pier. She seemed to know just where she was heading. It was a long hike but if she hurried she was sure to make it back home before dinner! She skittered through the area where the birds were at the feeders. Once a Blue Jay, pecked at her and I thought sure she was a goner but she hid under one of the boards. Eventually, the Jay grew tired of waiting and went back to eating seeds. At this point, the little crab made a dash for it and raced down the rest of the path straight to the marsh. I lost track of her in the crowd of crabs! Here she was safe! She was back home and had fabulous stories to tell!