Totally. I have 2, one is very friendly and comes out of his shell to see you as soon as you pick him up, the other you have to hold for a minute before he’ll say hi.
It’s a hermit crab with an upside-down striped ceramic teapot (with handle to right and spout to left) for his house/shell. You can see his legs taking up most of the space and his black eyes projecting near the top rim.
Oh dear lord, me too! If someone finds out it’s not, just don’t tell me, I wanna be blissfully unaware.
I wanna live in a happy little world where the lines are blurred and all animals are anthropomorphic, even little hermit crabs with their little teapot collecting hobbies!
It wouldn’t surprise me at all if this were real. After all, many crabs operate by moving into an already existing shell. It’s just that in this case, the ‘shell’ is a discarded piece of porcelain.
Oo, now I know what I want to do!
1. Find a beach with lots and lots of hermit crabs.
2. Place lots and lots of tiny, brightly-colored teapots, cups and assorted china on beach for crabs to inhabit.
3. Admire a newly-created population of adorable tiny-bright-colored-china-dwelling hermit crabs.
4. ???
5. Profit!
I have a salt water fish tank with a few hermit crabs for “janitorial duties” (They are really good at their job) I obtained a wide assortment of colorful shells from the local pet store and spread them on the bottom of the tank for decoration. The crabs swarmed the shells like college students with tax returns to spend at a used car lot! I got absolutely no work accomplished the whole day due to watching the hermit crabs “kicking tires and checking engines” on each and every shell until EVERY customer was satisfied. (A wasted but fun afternoon!) Think I will buy a couple sets of doll china……
GREAT description and I happily disagree, with the assessment of that afternoon as “wasted”. You, ma’am, have a delightful imagination.
I love what you did there!!!
Not a second of time wasted!1!1! You simply must repeat this and tape it…….!
I guarantee there will be eleventy-sevin viewers in the first two minutes…..!
I’m pretty confident that this is authentic. It is not at all unusual for a Hermit crab to adopt a man-made object as a home. If the stein fits, as it were.
I get the feeling people are seeing the flattening effect of the (macro?) lens and mistaking it for the mismatched lighting of a bad ‘shop. There’s nothing particularly unusual about this photo; it’s just a cute choice of “shell.”
Hermit crabs are awesome! A surprising amount of personality.
Totally. I have 2, one is very friendly and comes out of his shell to see you as soon as you pick him up, the other you have to hold for a minute before he’ll say hi.
Too funny! I’d say that’s a great way to recycle a tea pot.
That is not real. Is that real? That cannot be real. I mean really, is that real???
Really???
O rly?
Srsly.
Brings new meaning to the term “travel mug.”
*falls off chair laughing*
*picks up Lerrinus & dusts him off*
*picks chair up, off the floor*
Whew! Thanks, Fird! (psst, I’m female!)
“oops, sowwy….”
*blushes*
No offense taken! *hug*
I suppose this confirms the myth that you can catch crabs by sitting on a someone else’s pot.
tee hee hee!
)
(yes, apparently I am twelve
brinnann, you are on fire!!
Is that crab making a booty call?
Yep, all the way to ‘china’!
Looks like Sebastian got into Ariel’s stash of junk
Or he got a little too friendly with Mrs. Potts from Beauty and the Beast.
good name : Earl Grey
How did that hermit crab hold onto that cup?
The proper way: With pinky held aloft.
what am I seeing here? i’m having trouble with perspective…
It’s a hermit crab with an upside-down striped ceramic teapot (with handle to right and spout to left) for his house/shell. You can see his legs taking up most of the space and his black eyes projecting near the top rim.
*dies laughing* Oh! Too cute!
Looking at the rainbow of stripes, there’s a gay pride parade joke in there somewhere.
I’m Here, I’m Queer, I’m a Crustacean!
But do you think he will ever come out?
*giggle*
Yes. Win for the Oakley. Best yet, I think.
yep….
Only when he gets too big for his british tea britches……
Perfect.
Hermits are “confirmed bachelors,” after all.
Crab finds pot, drinks contents to the dregs, and declares himself a tea-totaller.
i want this picture to be real so badly.
Oh dear lord, me too! If someone finds out it’s not, just don’t tell me, I wanna be blissfully unaware.
I wanna live in a happy little world where the lines are blurred and all animals are anthropomorphic, even little hermit crabs with their little teapot collecting hobbies!
HE’s MINE!!! MINE, I tells ya!! MINE MINE MINE, ALL MINE!!!!
Signed,
Daffy Duck
Calm down dear!!
*Pats Fird gently on the head, whilst surruptitiously putting the crab mug in my pocket and e scuttling away*
“why, I oughtta…..”
“I PEENCH.”
Maybe little peench?
PS: Shouldn’t title be “All hands on deca-POT”?
Well this is just flat out fantastic.
Crusty crustacean commits crime (must be due to his pot habit).
Judging by his eyes, I think there was coffee in that pot.
Or, just maybe the tea was Not Decaffeinated.
Or maybe he was visiting the Mad Hatter’s tea party and evicted the Dormouse.
Can’t you just imagine an entire Mad Hatter’s Tea Party done this way?!!!
What a riot!! Talk about the dish running away with the spoon!
Buggular eye stalks!
Is it a regular sized tea pot or like a dollhouse sized pot? Either way TOO cute and you guys have me cracking up with the comments!!!
it is a doll sized teapot.
I too hope it’s a real pic, but you know that thing about “If it seems too good to be true …”
I’m a little hermit crab, short and stout! Check my snazzy handle & spout!”
I’m a little teapot
short and crabby
piss me off
and I’ll get all stabby
PS Points for the Muppet Michael Steele-style rhyme in the hovertext! Whacha gonna do, Johnny Beefstew?
It wouldn’t surprise me at all if this were real. After all, many crabs operate by moving into an already existing shell. It’s just that in this case, the ‘shell’ is a discarded piece of porcelain.
It’s a Hobbitt crab! He’s on his way to elevenses..or maybe luncheon or afternoon tea.
Or Second Breakfast!
A main character in the comic strip Sherman’s Lagoon is a crab who uses a discarded tin can as a shell, but who sometimes upgrades like this.
HAWTHORNE!!!!
No eye-hance for crabby? Those peeps are screaming for eye-hance. Boo!
Oo, now I know what I want to do!
1. Find a beach with lots and lots of hermit crabs.
2. Place lots and lots of tiny, brightly-colored teapots, cups and assorted china on beach for crabs to inhabit.
3. Admire a newly-created population of adorable tiny-bright-colored-china-dwelling hermit crabs.
4. ???
5. Profit!
And now you sound like the referenced Hawthorne a couple of posts above yours. Thanks for the smile!!
I have a salt water fish tank with a few hermit crabs for “janitorial duties” (They are really good at their job) I obtained a wide assortment of colorful shells from the local pet store and spread them on the bottom of the tank for decoration. The crabs swarmed the shells like college students with tax returns to spend at a used car lot! I got absolutely no work accomplished the whole day due to watching the hermit crabs “kicking tires and checking engines” on each and every shell until EVERY customer was satisfied. (A wasted but fun afternoon!) Think I will buy a couple sets of doll china……
GREAT description and I happily disagree, with the assessment of that afternoon as “wasted”. You, ma’am, have a delightful imagination.
I love what you did there!!!
You need to do that again and then video tape it for all of our enjoyment!
Totally not a wasted afternoon at all!
Not a second of time wasted!1!1! You simply must repeat this and tape it…….!
I guarantee there will be eleventy-sevin viewers in the first two minutes…..!
That is so awesome and totally adorable and made me OMG out loud lol.
I’m pretty confident that this is authentic. It is not at all unusual for a Hermit crab to adopt a man-made object as a home. If the stein fits, as it were.
I get the feeling people are seeing the flattening effect of the (macro?) lens and mistaking it for the mismatched lighting of a bad ‘shop. There’s nothing particularly unusual about this photo; it’s just a cute choice of “shell.”
Would that teapot be Wedgwood, then, luv?
Yay for more crabbies on C.O.! You made my day! (Now if you would just post the pics I’ve sent in of my Sheldon).