Above you see the Detritus Processing Team at SaltMarsh Incorporated. They are a highly motivated group who take their job of eating mud seriously. It's the detritus in the mud that they are after of course. This is provided by another of our productivity teams, really the most productive team, the Spartina Grass Solar Collectors.
Today's post is not about them however. Today, we're all about mud eating.
We realize we are a little heavy on maleness here at Saltmarsh Incorporated and we are recruiting females constantly to break through that clay ceiling.
The Detritus Processing Team are shift workers. Our busiest time is low tide when acres of delicious detritus dotted deposits are desperately devoured. High tide is spent hiding from predators who come in with the rising waters. This is down time for the team and the best time to call if you have detritus processing issues.
Here Emma, the team productivity coach, is showing off one of our best workers ... although he's been a little overeager in the female recruitment area lately.
You can see more of us in the short video clip below.
Prepare to be boggled.
15 comments:
That is amazing. My kids would love to go there! Maybe next year...
So nice to see little critters still thriving! Here in West Palm they have killed or run off everything except the Bufo's :(. I do see one or two wood storks from time to time. Last month we rescued an injured juvenile Cooper's Hawk in the park here. Sad though, they seem out of place in what was once "their" place
FC,
According to urbandictionary.com your posting would be the nightmare of the century from someone who suffers from kabourophobia!
Ain't nothing like those critters on the South Dakota prairie!
I hate to show my ignorance, but what are these things? And where did you find them? marge
Impressive! Not a beach to wander around barefoot, that's for sure.
Just out of curiosity, are those little critters edible?
Karin,
Welcome to Pure Florida! This would be a great home school field trip!
Who Woulda,
That's sad. Life like this is the norm, not the norm we see at too many beaches and coastal sites these days.
Caroline,
Now YOU'VE give me a great word to use on MY friends!
Marge,
LOL! If you are going to publish a beach blog, you gotta get to know the fiddler crab!
I know you have them down there.
Felicia,
Fiddlers are edible as far as I know, but not eaten traditonally around here. Maybe they don't taste good, but I think it's more a case of size mattering.
We just returned from a week at Pensacola Beach. Lots of baseball played, but got some good beach time in as well. On the sound side of Santa Rosa Island, we encountered tese same crabs messing around at low tide. The kids had a blast watching them.
I had no idea that fiddler crabs were so tiny! That was a very cool find! I can't wait to show this video to somebody...ANYbody! It's too amazing not to share! :)
These guys make me laugh, esp. in the video clip. I'm trying to not connect them in my mind to what shows up on a paper plate at "Harry's Hot Garlic Trays"- a favorite soul food pit stop between here and Boyd Hill. The ones he serves are about this size...Now I"m thinking "eewwww." Speaking of spartina grass, there's a great novel titled Spartina by John Casey about a fisherman and boat-builder, who lives on the Rhode Island shore in a backwater world of salt marshes, alcoholic fishermen, crab boats and old homesteads disappearing under new resorts for inland tourists. You would enjoy it, I believe. If my copy wasn't packed away in a warehouse somewhere I would bring it to you but it's worth tracking down.
That's a lot of Fiddlers. Is there a shortage of the critters that eat them up there?
Consider me boggled.
Dang that's a lot of little garbage collectors, or I guess that's recyclers!
Kathy,
Sounds like fun! Kids and fiddler crabs are always fun... as long as you watch where you step! LOL! We used to have fiddler crab races when I was a kid.
Kimberlee,
Yup, pretty small, but lots of attitude! The ones with the large claws are the males. Glad you liked the vid!
Vicki,
That does sound like my kind of novel! Looking forward to your road trip.
Troll,
No, this is an almost pristine coastal region. I think it's more a shortage of developed shoreline, pollution, and mosquito control spraying. This is what every marsh in FL SHOULD be like.
It's normal.
Miz S,
Mission accomplished. :)
Dave,
Closer to WiseAcres than to PFHQ!
I LOVE watching fiddler crabs! They were all over the canal sides when I was a kid and we took the sailboat out. That was my favorite part of sailing - that crab watching. Unfortunately, the rest of it made me seasick...
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