Ching's hermit crab aquarium + one snail + one small sand crab [poor little guys]

Ching's hermit crab aquarium + one snail + one small sand crab [poor little guys]
Originally uploaded by +kdis

Beach + Surf Trip

I was so worried + overprotective of them that I wanted to set them free. Growing up as a kid on the island of Guam I used to collect hermit crabs from the beach. There were big ones + there were little ones. I kept them in a brown Ovaltine canister filled with sand + would feed them cold cooked rice. Some of them needed bigger shells to move into once they outgrew their own shells, but I didn't know about that till it was too late. Eventually, they all died. Years later when we moved out of our house, I found some hermit crab shells + exoskeletons in other parts of the house. Apparently, they escaped + didn't survive due to lack of food. :( I learned my lesson.

My mom got upset that I kept them as pets because they were stinky from the beach water, so when my cousin Ching brought them back with us to Olongapo she didn't want his pets kept in the ancestral house + put them out on the porch. I replaced them in a bigger plastic tub with a lot less water [they didn't like being immersed] so they weren't climbing all over each other. Ching wasn't looking after them + even forgot about them at one point so naturally I adopted them + fed them pan de sal crumbs. At that time, some had already died + the remaining crabs were not as energetic as they were in Pundakit. I told J that I had plans to kidnap them + return them to sea because I didn't like seeing them struggle outside of their environment. I didn't think Ching would notice anyway.

My cousin Joel had contributed a tiny white sand crab to the aquarium as his pet. Joel, Ching, + I were looking at the aquarium a few days after we got back + we couldn't find the little sand crab. We dug around the sand to see where it was + when we found the crab it was dead + had turned into a dull grey. We were all upset + Joel said in Tagalog, "Aww, look at it. It's not bright anymore." He said that he was going to bury it in his dad's garden, which he really followed through with. A half hour later, he showed us the little crab's grave site + even put up a cross tombstone made of twigs. :)

When our trip was coming to a close, I woke up one morning + J told me that he went to Subic Bay to bring the remaining hermit crabs that were still alive back to the beach for me. I know they are tiny little things, but it really meant a lot that he did that for me + for them. :) Hopefully the sea will take them back to their home in Pundakit.

_ 15 Oct 2k9
_ Philippines 2k9: Pundakit
_ Pundakit, San Antonio, Zambales, Philippines