Hurricane Hunters and Fiddler Crabs

  Late this afternoon, Ms. Ez and I headed to the pier for our usual evening outing.  The old Bayou Dog and I would much rather be on that pier than anywhere else on the hill.  Just as we were stepping off the board path that leads down to the pier, I heard a large plane take off from Keesler Air Base.  Ahh, one of our Hurricane Hunters was out for a run.  I pondered if there was something out there in the Gulf that had not caught my attention yet.  I admit that I have been a bit lax on my weather watches as of late.  Still, it did not seem to be the type weather that had anything dire pending.  I made a mental note to check the weather once we returned to the Little Bayou House.  As for now, she and I were going to enjoy the heavy breeze blowing across the Bay.  

  A bit further along, I noticed a good many Fiddler Crabs were scurrying about the mudflats.  These critters always fascinate me with their mating dances.  The male crab with his one humongous claw looks a bit clownish.  The female has two small claws. During the summer, the male will dig a tidy tunnel to use as a home.  When it is complete,  he will wave that claw as high as he can hoist it in hopes that it will catch the attention of his ladylove.  If she is interested, she will stay a bit to watch his dance.  After catching her interest, the male will dart into his burrow and drum his claw inside the burrow.  He will climb out to check on her and then go back to drum again.  If she follows, he will seal up the tunnel with a mud ball and follow down into the burrow.  There, they began their family.  She will stay in the tunnel for up to two weeks while she incubates the eggs. He stands outside and guards the tunnel from intruders. She will emerge from the tunnel to release her eggs into the water where they hatch and develop into little juvenile Fiddler Crabs.

  It is said that two days before a hurricane or bad storm, the Fiddler Crabs will seek out higher ground to make burrows.  They will bury themselves to keep protected from the storm's tidal surge.  Common lore says that the farther the crabs go inland to burrow, the stronger the incoming storm will be.  In some ways, this makes a lot of sense.  With a tidal surge putting them at risk of being washed out to deeper water, the little crustaceans (like smart people) might ought to find higher ground. 

  I am not sure whether the crabs have any ability to predict storms or if this is a bunch of hogwash.  I do know that those Hurricane Hunter folks are the true heroes in letting us know the severity of any tempests that might be brewing in the Gulf.  I think I will just stick with their predictions.