Cats and Crabs <si>
Adapted from "Momo and the Crab" by Lyly Young. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
Deb wants her cat to come inside. She calls and calls, but the naughty Feline is distracted by something in the yard and refuses to come in. Deb gives up and comes out to see what the cat has found.
Is it an illusion? No, there is a deep hole in the soil. There is something down there, and the cat has dug a little more to try to get to it.
There is a crab in the hole. It is not very big, and Deb worries that the cat will hunt and hurt it. The cat is not vicious. It is young and just wants to play with the unusual thing it has found.
Deb makes the decision to bring the crab inside. She feeds the kitten, so it is distracted, and studies the crab. There is a little leftover cat food, and Deb puts it in front of the crab to see if it will eat.
She is on a mission to find out what the crab likes to eat best. But actually, the crab eats everything she gives it. It seems very hungry and eats so much it grows quickly.
Ah! The crab has had babies. No wonder it was so hungry. Her crab seems quite big now against her tiny babies. Was her crab ever that small?
The cat watches on, fascinated as the crab family swims in the bottom of a bucket. Deb is careful to keep them moist and happy.
The crabs were all growing much bigger. Deb wondered just how big they would get. But then the bucket tipped, and the baby crabs spilled all over the sand. The eager babies quickly scuttle away from the wet patch in all directions.
Deb hurries to catch them and put them in the bucket. She thinks she is keeping them safe.
Before her cat even realises what is happening, the crabs bury themselves in the sand.
And they are gone. The kitten jumps hopefully on the little mounds left behind. The baby crabs are much faster than their pregnant mother was. 'I think they prefer to live in their holes,' Deb says sadly.
She lets the mother crab go too. Now that she is not full of baby crabs, she moves much quicker too. Deb watches as the crab buries itself in a matter of moments. And it looks like the kitten has lost interest too. Deb is sure the crab will be fine in her hole now.