The Journey of the Red Crab in December

Christmas Island, in the Indian Ocean and close to Australia, is the site of the great crab journey, every December. Every year, millions upon millions of crabs take off on a walking trip that will leave many of them dead, but thrill and frighten thousands along the way.

There are over 14 species of crabs on the island but the one that stands out is the red crab – even though some of them may come in hues of orange or even purple. The crabs can grow rather large, some four to six inches wide.

Every year, when the first rains fall, over a hundred million crabs will begin a journey to the ocean. Because there are so many it’s not unusual to see entire lawns or roads covered. The crabs must walk across streets, through yards, down cliffs and across huge jungles to get to their destination.

During their hike many crabs will unwittingly find themselves in children’s lawn toys, in people’s homes, or just marching across your footpath. Somehow, many of them find themselves on top of roofs, inside vehicles, or just lounging in the shoes by your bed.

Since there’s no way to avoid it, many motorists simply run over the crabs on their way to work, some losing a tire along the way due to the massive male’s claws. Other people take the time to help one or more of the crabs along the way. A million or so of the crabs will never make it to the ocean and will die along the way. It takes about a week for the journey to be completed – an interesting time to be vacationing in the area.

Crabs that survive the trip do so in order to dip themselves in the waters before meeting their mates in the forests. After mating, the female crabs will hang out in the woods for a couple of weeks before traveling to the ocean to lay eggs. Each crab lays about 100,000 eggs. In about a month, millions of baby crabs will emerge from the water and begin their week-long journey to the forests.

Red crabs live approximately 10 years and will make the mating journey every year. If you live on Christmas Island that means scooping buckets full of baby crabs from drainage ditches, or sweeping them out of the road.

If you’re thinking of going to the area for night after night of delicious crab dinners, think again. Red crabs aren’t the edible type. Bring your camera along, though, you’ll want to get some pictures of this.