Photo Hunt: Spotted

On our recent trip to Punta Fuego beach, The Pea spotted this hermit crab scuttling across the sand. I'm not sure how she managed to do it; the sand was fairly coarse and strewn with shells, whole and broken, and the crab was about as big as her fingernail. The shell it lived in was perfectly patterned to blend in with its surroundings so it was really a wonder that The Pea was able to see it.

It only took a second for The Pea to became the crab's sworn protector and built a sand fortress around it, standing guard against predators like birds and curious little brothers. They, of course, kept trying to pick the shell up to see the hermit crab more closely, only to have The Pea swoop down on them, shrieking, "Leave him alone! You'll drop him! He's scared! How would you feel if a giant picked you up and poked you?!" She doubled the size of her protective sand wall; eventually 3Po and Jammy decided to help, and grew more interested in the fortress than in the crab.

Once he realized he was no longer the focus of attention, the little hermit crab quickly burrowed back into the sand. The Pea mourned the loss of her impromptu pet, but acknowledged that he was better off free, as all wild things should be.


Feel free to leave links to your own Photo Hunt entries below. And for more spotted things, click here.