Christmas Island’s Red Crabs Part 1
Christmas Island, located just below the equator in the Indian Ocean near Australia, is most interesting to nature lovers. One reason is the unusual birds that live there. Three of these, the booby, the frigatebird and the golden bosun are not found anywhere else in the world.
In addition, there are more than a dozen varieties of crabs. A huge one is called the coconut crab and a very small one is called the red crab, because of its bright red color. It’s a harmless little creature with a body only about the size of a man’s hand.
The antics of red crabs are unusual and among the most amazing of all inhabitants of that island, or the entire world, for that matter. It is estimated there are about 120 million of them on the island, with a total weight of some 10,000 tons!
Most crabs live in oceans or on nearby shorelines, but the red crabs prefer living among the trees of a rain forest high on the island, a long way from the salt water. They make their homes by burrowing into the soil among the tree roots. During the cool part of the morning and evening, they come out to feast on the constant accumulation of flowers, fruit and tree leaves that fall to the ground. Extra treats include snails, dead birds or insects that they occasionally come across. During some feeding hours the forest floor looks like a huge red carpet spread among the trees.
If by chance you are reading this at a time when the moon is in its last crescent-shaped quarter of either October or November, the red crabs will be following an irresistible urge to get down to the ocean, their most interesting event of the year. During the moon’s last quarter in either of those two months (depending on how suitable the rainy weather is) the entire 120 million crabs start out in a long stretched-out mass on a migration of one to two weeks or more. They travel very slowly and only in the cool morning and evening hours. Their goal is the ocean several miles away. Heavy rainfall on the soil and rocks is a real help to them.
Do you think God is aware of these little red crabs as they undertake this long trip? Indeed He is, for they are part of His creation. This Bible verse assures us He is looking after them: “Thou, even Thou, art Lord alone; Thou hast made ... the earth, and all things that are therein, the seas, and all that is therein, and Thou preservest them all.” Nehemiah 9:66Thou, even thou, art Lord alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all things that are therein, the seas, and all that is therein, and thou preservest them all; and the host of heaven worshippeth thee. (Nehemiah 9:6).
In the following issue we will discover some of the things that take place on this migration.
ML 10/14/1990