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You’ve probably seen a hermit crab in your kid’s classroom or on someone’s desk at work – most of them are small enough to make easy-to-care-for pets. Fun fact: they’re not technically crabs, because they have soft, exposed abdomens that leave them vulnerable to predators, which is why they’re always in the market for a discarded shell to call home.
They move in and out of shells – usually sea snail shells – as they grow.
The coconut crab differs from a regular hermit crab in two important ways: first, it’s quite large – it can grow up to three feet long and weigh nine pounds – and second, when it outgrows the largest shell it can find, it grows a shell of its own.
Isn’t nature weird?
One particular coconut crab, though, isn’t going to be growing his own shell anytime soon, since he found a lovely (meaning totally creepy) discarded doll’s head to live in instead of a shell.
A redditor shared a photo of the crab found on Henderson Island. Part of the Pitcairn Islands, the remote Pacific spot is vulnerable to human litter (obviously).
There’s just something about dolls that creep some people out (including me), but I suppose the crab is perfectly happy living inside one – maybe he even considers the eyes cool little peepholes?
I have no idea what I’m talking about, but hey, there’s got to be some reason he likes it.
The photo is also making people recall the mutant Toy Story toy that was a doll’s head on top of a crab’s body. A strange coincidence to be sure.
Not as strange as reality, but close.