# I love Coconut Crabs **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 1, 2009, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-coconut-crabs/495022 "2009-05-01T20:42:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2009, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-coconut-crabs/495022/1 "2009-05-01T20:42:41Z")
[Cocnut crabs are just fascinating to me.](http://www.ag.gov.au/www/agd/rwpattach.nsf/VAP/(454DFAFE2D6830FB1D0597823A67B5D6)~robber+crab+also+known+as+coconut+crab.jpg/$file/robber+crab+also+known+as+coconut+crab.jpg) The idea of an arthropod that large living on land amazes me every time I see it. Yes, they’re edible, and I’d love to eat one. Or, well, part of one. 🙂 [Some more pictures of coconut crabs](http://forums.macresource.com/read.php?1,617954,618432), including [this one.](http://lh4.ggpht.com/abramsv/SB1mpido4TI/AAAAAAAAQIw/NCGymSYdQW0/s800/coconut-crab-2.jpg) [And then there is HugeCrab.com, [del]the preeminent dating website in New Jersey[/del] a great source for images of huge crabs.](http://www.hugecrab.com/) ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2009, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-coconut-crabs/495022/2 "2009-05-01T21:07:48Z")
I’ve seen the one trying to get into the dustbin before: you just know that fucker is contemplating buying a gun and then becoming a Dalek. ---
**Author:** ![Beadalin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Beadalin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beadalin)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2009, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-coconut-crabs/495022/3 "2009-05-01T21:17:13Z")
I can say in all honesty that I could happily go all my life without ever seeing one in person. A crab like that, capable of climbing things and therefore falling on my head, creeps me right the fuck out. ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2009, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-coconut-crabs/495022/4 "2009-05-01T21:35:55Z")
I totally want one as a pet. They’re basically just big hermit crabs right? That would be so awesome. I wonder how smart they are. “Sorry, I can’t talk too long; the crab wants to go out.” ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2009, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-coconut-crabs/495022/5 "2009-05-01T22:14:05Z")
Are they edible? Steamed in white wine, with garlic and butter? ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2009, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-coconut-crabs/495022/6 "2009-05-01T22:17:49Z")
People like coconut shrimp, what about coconut coconut crab? ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2009, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-coconut-crabs/495022/7 "2009-05-01T23:22:27Z")
> [@Terrifel](#): > > I totally want one as a pet. They’re basically just big hermit crabs right? That would be so awesome. I wonder how smart they are. > > “Sorry, I can’t talk too long; the crab wants to go out.” They are crabs that can crack coconuts with their claws\*; I imagine they could crush your skull like a paper cup while you slept and feast on the delicious salty warm goo inside.. \*Have you ever tried to break open a coconut? I’m fairly big and strong, and it takes me three or four good swings with a ball peen hammer. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2009, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-coconut-crabs/495022/8 "2009-05-01T23:25:04Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > Are they edible? Steamed in white wine, with garlic and butter? If you believe Wikipedia, they taste like lobster & crab. I’d be all over that. They can live up to 30 years though. It’d feel strange eating something that old for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2009, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-coconut-crabs/495022/9 "2009-05-02T02:48:56Z")
> [@Scissorjack](#): > > They are crabs that can crack coconuts with their claws\*; I imagine they could crush your skull like a paper cup while you slept and feast on the delicious salty warm goo inside.. > > \*Have you ever tried to break open a coconut? I’m fairly big and strong, and it takes me three or four good swings with a ball peen hammer. Well I’m not saying I’d let it climb into bed with me. It would have its own crab coop. ---
**Author:** ![horsetech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dec6dc/32.png) [@horsetech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/horsetech)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2009, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-coconut-crabs/495022/10 "2009-05-02T03:06:02Z")
Crap, if it can break open coconuts with those claws, I hate to think what it would do to, say, a chicken wire cage or mesh dog crate. _Snip, snip, snip, now where did those braaaains go?_ I guess you could use a huge glass aquarium to keep it in, but wouldn’t the coconuts get expensive? OP, I am generally a friend of arthropods, but that thing nearly made me wet my pants. I definitely was not expecting something big enough to chop up a toddler. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2009, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-coconut-crabs/495022/11 "2009-05-02T03:40:21Z")
So someone on one of those sites was lamenting on the CC saying that they “attack you”, you presumably being people…why are they attacking people? ---
**Author:** ![Tabithina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f04885/32.png) [@Tabithina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabithina)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2009, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-coconut-crabs/495022/12 "2009-05-02T04:06:06Z")
Here’s one happily mangling a coconut. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/lDay6pg-lmY/hqdefault.jpg "Robber Crab peeling coconut") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDay6pg-lmY) Not the best quality video, but still cool to watch. Hmmm…I used coconut scented shampoo this morning. I’m glad that critter is on an island far, far away from my head… ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2009, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-coconut-crabs/495022/13 "2009-05-02T05:07:28Z")
> [@Terrifel](#): > > Well I’m not saying I’d let it climb into bed with me. It would have its own crab coop. Sure, at least until it constructed a rudimentary lathe out of its exercise wheel. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2009, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-coconut-crabs/495022/14 "2009-05-02T06:59:28Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > So someone on one of those sites was lamenting on the CC saying that they “attack you”, you presumably being people…why are they attacking people? The sheer joy of it, I assume. I think these things are very cool. And even if I weren’t a vegetarian I’d never eat one out of fear they’d take revenge. [Much discussion of the coconut crab in this recent thread.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=513367) ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2009, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-coconut-crabs/495022/15 "2009-05-02T13:12:32Z")
From what I’ve read, those things are about as large as something with an exoskeleton can get on land. All I can say is, I’m glad a crab decided to get that large instead of say, a scorpion or spider. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2009, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-coconut-crabs/495022/16 "2009-05-02T14:04:39Z")
I’ve eaten too many crabs in my lifetime to be very bothered by the coconut crab. Its very name alone sounds pretty tasty. If there’s ever one around here, I’ll make sure to try it. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2009, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-coconut-crabs/495022/17 "2009-05-02T14:26:18Z")
Hmmm. Thick shell, pincers that can break an effing coconut, waaaay too many legs and likes to climb on things. If I ever catch a glimpse of one, I’m running for the goddamn hills. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2009, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-coconut-crabs/495022/18 "2009-05-02T17:42:43Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > If you believe Wikipedia, they taste like lobster & crab. I’d be all over that. > They can live up to 30 years though. It’d feel strange eating something that old for some reason. Well, lobsters can live to be 100 (sez Google). ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2009, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-coconut-crabs/495022/19 "2009-05-02T17:49:24Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > If I ever catch a glimpse of one, I’m running for the goddamn hills. Just what the Upland Kobal Crab is hoping will happen. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2009, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-coconut-crabs/495022/20 "2009-05-02T18:32:07Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > Well, lobsters can live to be 100 (sez Google). 100 years? Well shoot. I’m over it. As long as it’s not the _last_ thirty-year-old crab, it’s dinner. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-coconut-crabs/495022.md?page=2)