getting ready to make hundreds more of them!The little fiddler crab in my hands is still a little cold stunned early in the morning. He was pretty sluggish but it didn’t take long for him to get warmed up….
and get a little feisty, too! Only the male fiddler crabs have the trademark fiddle claw and it is used more for flirting than hurting. It is not unusual to come across a colony of burrows filled with anxious male crabs waving their claws in the air hoping to claim some attention….
Here you can see a female approaching the burrow of a waiting male. Although the males can be patient and entice a female to come into their burrow they can also be a bit….grabby….if you catch my drift.
Another male marching sideways across the sand….and then down below you’ll see that they will sometimes get a bit argumentative as well. The outside male in this case marched right over to the burrow and grabbed the other crab’s claw. The second crab withdrew quickly into its burrow.
Have you ever seen these little guys? They are all over the Cape. These were photographed in Centerville and in Wellfleet this past week. Where is your favorite spot to find them?