Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 19, Number 99, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 August 1898 — Fright Breaks Them Up. [ARTICLE]

Fright Breaks Them Up.

Crayfishes, crabs and lobsters are peculiarly sensitive to loud it is a fact that a loud and sudden clap of thunder will cause them to amputate or drop their large claws and “pincers.” The impulse which seizes them when suddenly alarmed is to throw off their heavy claws, so that they may the quicker scurry off to a place of safety. Crabs or lobsters can in ten days or a fortnight grow new claws, as large as the old ones. For several weeks, however, the patient who is growing on a new set of fighting weapons does not appear among the armed members of his family, because, his claws being soft, he could not “take his own part,” and would be eaten by his cannibal brethren.