# Crunch crunch crunch...what am I stepping on... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 18, 2011, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crunch-crunch-crunch-what-am-i-stepping-on/582289 "2011-05-18T04:48:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cubsfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Cubsfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cubsfan)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2011, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crunch-crunch-crunch-what-am-i-stepping-on/582289/1 "2011-05-18T04:48:06Z")
I’m on business in LA this week. I come out here a couple times a month but it almost never rains while I’m here, or when I’m not here for that matter. Anyway I was at the contractor site today after it rained the night before. I’m walking on the sidewalk through the courtyard between 2 different buildings when I notice that there are loud crunches with almost every step, almost like an egg shell being smashed. I looked down to see what on earth I was stepping on and to my (gross) dismay it was… :smack: Any guesses before I tell you? I’ll post back soon with the nasty answer. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2011, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crunch-crunch-crunch-what-am-i-stepping-on/582289/2 "2011-05-18T04:49:33Z")
Bugs. Lots of dead bugs. ---
**Author:** ![Cubsfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Cubsfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cubsfan)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2011, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crunch-crunch-crunch-what-am-i-stepping-on/582289/3 "2011-05-18T04:50:08Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > Bugs. Lots of dead bugs. Nope. ETA: The rain the night before is likely a clue if you think about it long enough. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2011, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crunch-crunch-crunch-what-am-i-stepping-on/582289/4 "2011-05-18T04:56:06Z")
snails ---
**Author:** ![Cubsfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Cubsfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cubsfan)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2011, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crunch-crunch-crunch-what-am-i-stepping-on/582289/5 "2011-05-18T04:59:49Z")
> [@Isamu](#): > > snails Bingo! Absolutely disgusting. There were 100’s of snails, of all sizes ranging from small grape to golf ball size, crawling all over the sidewalks. Golf ball size suckers. The snails themselves don’t disgust me but the fact that I was crushing them into green piles of mush 2 at a time grossed me the f out. Do snails always come out en masse when it rains here? I’ve never seen anything like it before in my life. They were EVERYWHERE. By lunch they were all gone. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2011, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crunch-crunch-crunch-what-am-i-stepping-on/582289/6 "2011-05-18T05:20:39Z")
I don’t know about LA, but snails lurve the rain. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2011, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crunch-crunch-crunch-what-am-i-stepping-on/582289/7 "2011-05-18T05:31:45Z")
_shudder_ ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2011, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crunch-crunch-crunch-what-am-i-stepping-on/582289/8 "2011-05-18T06:47:05Z")
“Dr. Jones! It feel like stepping on fortune cookie!” ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2011, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crunch-crunch-crunch-what-am-i-stepping-on/582289/9 "2011-05-18T08:16:16Z")
How long will you look at those shoes every time you have to put them on and go ewh? Another gross thing is when you have to pack away a tent that is in an area with slugs. A hundred slugs stuck to the bottom of the tent is gross. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2011, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crunch-crunch-crunch-what-am-i-stepping-on/582289/10 "2011-05-18T12:23:18Z")
Late one night in Alabama, my mom was driving her siblings and parents home after a rain storm. The rural roads had no lights. After a half hour or so, mom wonders aloud if there had been heavy winds in this area since the road was absolutely _covered_ in leaves. Grandad says, “Those aint leaves. They’re frogs.” Mom had been running over frogs the whole time. And boy was she grossed out for next ten-fifteen minutes it took to get home. And yeah, down in FLA, I deal with the whole crunchy snail issue throughout the summer. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2011, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crunch-crunch-crunch-what-am-i-stepping-on/582289/11 "2011-05-18T12:33:40Z")
Could have been worse. Could have been maggots. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2011, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crunch-crunch-crunch-what-am-i-stepping-on/582289/12 "2011-05-18T14:00:30Z")
Or kittens. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2011, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crunch-crunch-crunch-what-am-i-stepping-on/582289/13 "2011-05-18T14:03:10Z")
You could have bed bugs too 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![dawson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@dawson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dawson)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2011, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crunch-crunch-crunch-what-am-i-stepping-on/582289/14 "2011-05-18T14:39:16Z")
Of course they were gone by lunch. They _were_ lunch! escargot anyone? While on vacation in the Caymans we were warned to avoid land crabs while driving, or risk a punctured tire! ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2011, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crunch-crunch-crunch-what-am-i-stepping-on/582289/15 "2011-05-18T15:57:08Z")
My mother had one of those really long motorhomes. We drove it everywhere on vacation; much fun was had. Until the time we were driving down a road that was currently experiencing a turtle migration. There was no way to avoid them, none. Clomp clomp clomp. Truly terrible. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crunch-crunch-crunch-what-am-i-stepping-on/582289/16 "2011-05-19T04:05:47Z")
I had a pretty good suspicion what this thread was about before I opened it as I had a similar experience in St. John’s, Newfoundland once. By the time I noticed, there was simply nowhere to step without crushing some poor li’l snail. Haunts me to this day. ---
**Author:** ![Bibliovore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Bibliovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bibliovore)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crunch-crunch-crunch-what-am-i-stepping-on/582289/17 "2011-05-19T09:55:33Z")
Call me a sentimental sap, but when I see a snail on a path I’m walking on, I’ve been know to actually pick it up and put it somewhere out of harm’s way where it won’t get stepped on. ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crunch-crunch-crunch-what-am-i-stepping-on/582289/18 "2011-05-19T12:45:07Z")
> [@dawson](#): > > Of course they were gone by lunch. They _were_ lunch! escargot anyone? > > While on vacation in the Caymans we were warned to avoid land crabs while driving, or risk a punctured tire! You mean [THESE](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_05kZ8FV0sTc/SbvkSveuJXI/AAAAAAAABJY/zFGYChN7mL8/s1600-h/landcrab.jpg) landcrabs? For those you need a cattle guard on the front of your car. ---
**Author:** ![Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/regallag_the_axe/32/445_2.png) [@Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Regallag_The_Axe)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crunch-crunch-crunch-what-am-i-stepping-on/582289/19 "2011-05-19T13:15:29Z")
> [@EvilTOJ](#): > > You mean [THESE](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_05kZ8FV0sTc/SbvkSveuJXI/AAAAAAAABJY/zFGYChN7mL8/s1600-h/landcrab.jpg) landcrabs? For those you need a cattle guard on the front of your car. A little off-topic here, but, does anyone know if coconut crabs taste good? I mean, they look slow and easy to catch, like you could just throw an empty trash can, or something, over them.