# Oh god, the crab is still alive! **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 12, 2013, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-god-the-crab-is-still-alive/673746 "2013-11-12T19:44:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TashaKitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d26b3c/32.png) [@TashaKitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TashaKitty)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-god-the-crab-is-still-alive/673746/1 "2013-11-12T19:44:11Z")
I went to the beach today and picked up what I thought was a dead small green crab laying belly up in the sand. I brought it home and I rinsed it and tossed it into isopropyl alcohol and it started moving its legs and its eyes! I’m horrified because I would never have put it in alcohol if I’d known it was alive! I feel like if I were to take it out of the alcohol and rinse it off, the damage would be done and I’d just be prolonging a very painful death. Should I just leave it in the alcohol and wait until it dies? Is there a more humane way I can kill it? Please help, I feel horrible. ---
**Author:** ![CatherineZeta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@CatherineZeta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CatherineZeta)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-god-the-crab-is-still-alive/673746/2 "2013-11-12T19:49:14Z")
That’s rubbing alcohol, right? If it’s ok for human skin I’m sure the crab will be fine if you rinse it off. Put it back in its natural environment, it’ll survive better there. Or get eaten, but that’s life on the beach for a crab. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-god-the-crab-is-still-alive/673746/3 "2013-11-12T19:52:24Z")
I think putting it in the freezer is recommended: > [@](#): > > The RSPCA is urging Northern Territory restaurants and caterers to observe new guidelines outlining the humane method to kill lobsters, crabs and crustaceans. > > The guidelines state that crustaceans should be chilled in a fridge or freezer and then killed by splitting or spiking them to destroy the nerve centres. > > Previously the guidelines had suggested the animals be immersed in an ice slurry to chill them but it says this will cause death by osmotic shock. > > The RSPCA’s Hugh Wirth says it recognises that fish, lobsters and crabs can feel pain. > > “A more effective method of humanely killing these animals is to expose them to chilled air, preferably in a freezer with a fan inside the compartment,” Mr Wirth said. > > "They are chilled down and go into hibernation much quicker. > > “They can be extracted from the freezer and butchered in the usual way.” [http://www.jamieoliver.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=73434](http://www.jamieoliver.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=73434) The cite listed on that forum is a dead link, but it seems legit and I’ve heard similar before. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-god-the-crab-is-still-alive/673746/4 "2013-11-12T19:58:46Z")
> [@CatherineZeta](#): > > That’s rubbing alcohol, right? If it’s ok for human skin I’m sure the crab will be fine if you rinse it off. Put it back in its natural environment, it’ll survive better there. Or get eaten, but that’s life on the beach for a crab. That… does not follow. Fresh water is ok for human skin, but putting a salt water crab in it will kill it in short order. The isopropyl is probably doing a job on it’s gills too - try inhaling some rubbing alcohol fumes and see how your mucus membranes feel. **TashaKitty** , either (a) cut it in half with a cleaver, or (b), get over it, it’s a crab. ---
**Author:** ![TashaKitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d26b3c/32.png) [@TashaKitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TashaKitty)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-god-the-crab-is-still-alive/673746/5 "2013-11-12T20:03:44Z")
Okay, thanks for the replies, guys. I’m pretty certain that the crab has passed on. It’s stopped moving and its shell is turning a mottled yellow/orange. I’ll have to go out and buy more alcohol, though; it might need a change of alcohol and I used all of ours up. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-god-the-crab-is-still-alive/673746/6 "2013-11-12T20:09:18Z")
So what’s the purpose of this alcohol soak anyway? Are you trying to preserve it like an 1800s museum exhibit? ---
**Author:** ![CatherineZeta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@CatherineZeta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CatherineZeta)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-god-the-crab-is-still-alive/673746/7 "2013-11-12T20:12:39Z")
My bad. There are also land crabs which keep their gills sealed shut, so I was thinking about it from the perspective of how the alcohol would affect the crab’s shell, not would the crab be breathing or drinking the alcohol. As it’s dead now I suppose it’s a moot point. ---
**Author:** ![TashaKitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d26b3c/32.png) [@TashaKitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TashaKitty)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-god-the-crab-is-still-alive/673746/8 "2013-11-12T20:25:54Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > So what’s the purpose of this alcohol soak anyway? Are you trying to preserve it like an 1800s museum exhibit? Yepper. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-god-the-crab-is-still-alive/673746/9 "2013-11-12T20:32:33Z")
Crab anecdote: As a child we spent a lot of time at the beach. When I was five or six years old, I found a discarded tuna can and used it to collect a few tiny crabs and took them home. The next morning, the can was empty. The crabs had crawled out and fallen to the floor of my bedroom to die near the floorboard. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-god-the-crab-is-still-alive/673746/10 "2013-11-12T20:38:28Z")
Is it moving like trying to skitter around, or was it just twitching slightly? Because many “lower” animals can be functionally brain dead, but will still twitch in certain situations. The [“living” octopus from _Oldboy_](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzJEGqek3TQ) (the original one!) was likely beheaded, but starts moving in soy sauce, [due to a reaction with salt](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/12/dancing-squid-dead-cuttlefish-soy-sauce_n_2663377.html). My chemistry is too out of date to know if isopropyl is a factor, and my crustacean biology is worse. Either way, it’s dead, Jim. If the color changed, it’s almost certain. Don’t feel too bad, but you can also try to find a molt next time, less cleanup. Hope it looks nice for whatever purpose you plan. ---
**Author:** ![Flywheel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Flywheel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flywheel)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-god-the-crab-is-still-alive/673746/11 "2013-11-12T20:39:22Z")
Life imitates [art](http://www.geocities.com/HotSprings/Villa/7228/Dante_and_the_Lobster.html). > [@Samuel Beckett](#): > > His aunt was in the garden, tending whatever flowers die at that time of year. She embraced him and together they went down into the bowels of the earth, into the kitchen in the basement. She took the parcel and undid it and abruptly the lobster was on the table, on the oilcloth, discovered. > > “They assured me it was fresh” said Belacqua. > > Suddenly he saw the creature move, this neuter creature. Definitely it changed its position. His hand flew to his mouth. > > “Christ!” he said “it’s alive.” > > His aunt looked at the lobster. It moved again. It made a faint nervous act of life on the oilcloth. They stood above it, looking down on it, exposed cruciform on the oilcloth. It shuddered again. Belacqua felt he would be sick. > > “My God” he whined “it’s alive, what’ll we do?” The aunt simply had to laugh. She bustled off to the pantry to fetch her smart apron, leaving him goggling down at the lobster, and came back with it on and her sleeves rolled up, all business. > > “Well” she said “it is to be hoped so, indeed.” ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-god-the-crab-is-still-alive/673746/12 "2013-11-12T21:47:05Z")
Odd. It’s usually the other way around - first the alochol, then the turning green and lying belly-up on the beach. ---
**Author:** ![TashaKitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d26b3c/32.png) [@TashaKitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TashaKitty)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-god-the-crab-is-still-alive/673746/13 "2013-11-12T22:18:21Z")
> [@Doctor\_Jackson](#): > > Odd. It’s usually the other way around - first the alochol, then the turning green and lying belly-up on the beach. Do crabs have wild drunken orgies that I’m not aware of? I’ll be sure to bring my camera next time I go. ---
**Author:** ![TashaKitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d26b3c/32.png) [@TashaKitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TashaKitty)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-god-the-crab-is-still-alive/673746/14 "2013-11-12T22:22:53Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Is it moving like trying to skitter around, or was it just twitching slightly? Because many “lower” animals can be functionally brain dead, but will still twitch in certain situations. The [“living” octopus from _Oldboy_](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzJEGqek3TQ) (the original one!) was likely beheaded, but starts moving in soy sauce, [due to a reaction with salt](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/12/dancing-squid-dead-cuttlefish-soy-sauce_n_2663377.html). My chemistry is too out of date to know if isopropyl is a factor, and my crustacean biology is worse. It was slowly furling and unfurling its legs, and it moved its eyes a couple of time, like it was looking around. I hope it wasn’t aware because I feel bad. > [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > but you can also try to find a molt next time, less cleanup. Hope it looks nice for whatever purpose you plan. I have a badass horseshoe crab molt! ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2013, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-god-the-crab-is-still-alive/673746/15 "2013-11-13T21:11:29Z")
> [@TashaKitty](#): > > Do crabs have wild drunken orgies that I’m not aware of? I’ll be sure to bring my camera next time I go. The real question is whether, as a result, they risk getting people.