It might not be such a strange site in Ocean City or perhaps Bermuda, but what a local couple recently spotted in their backyard was definitely not typical for Berks County.
On Monday, crawling through the green grass, they found a rather large hermit crab. Its off-white, pointy shell and over-sized left claw were most certainly out of place along Park Avenue in Kenhorst.
Officials from the Humane League of Lancaster County, who did not identify the couple who found the animal, said the couple contacted the Humane League of Berks County and were referred to the Lancaster branch because the Berks shelter is closed for renovations.
The couple bought some supplies at a local pet store to keep the hermit crab overnight and dropped it off Tuesday.
Leann Quire, director of shelter operations for Humane Pennsylvania Partners for a Humane Pennsylvania, said "Louie," as the hermit crab has come to be known, is quite a specimen.
"It is a big hermit crab," she said. "It is one of the bigger ones we've seen."
Quire said she has been working in the animal welfare field for over a decade, and Louie is only the second stray hermit crab she's come across. The other, she said, was found in a sandbox.
There are two possibilities for how the crab ended up on the lam, Quire said.
One is that his owner intentionally set him loose.
"We encourage people not to do that," Quire said. "They can't be put back into the wild. They're not going to survive."
The other option is that Louie is an escape artist. Quire said hermit crabs are very good climbers and have been known to abscond from terrariums without lids.
The Humane League has posted about Louie on social media in a attempt to find his owner, if his owner is looking for him. Like all animals that arrive at the shelter, he will be held for 48 hours before being put up for adoption.
His release date — when he can be adopted — is Thursday, Quire said.
"We have got a lot of interest already," she said. "I think we'll find a good home for him pretty quickly."
For more information on Louie or the Humane League of Lancaster County call 717-393-6551 or email adoptlancaster@humanepa.org.
The Link LonkSeptember 30, 2020 at 11:45PM
https://ift.tt/3ipgPAQ
Kenhorst couple finds stray hermit crab in their backyard - Reading Eagle
https://ift.tt/2MkGRbk
Crab
No comments:
Post a Comment