Island Idylls, Being Thankful

Island Idylls: Stories of growing up in the Virgin Islands.

Adventure Under the Mosquito Net

For as long as I could remember I had either slept in the same room with my sister, or in the same bed.

Me at about the time of the incident.

When I was six, my sister, Erva, went BY HERSELF for TWO WEEKS to the Girl Scout camp in Puerto Rico. I went years later, a lovely spot up in the rain forests near El Yunque, one of the highest mountains in PR.

It was the first time in my long life of 6 or so years, that I had ever slept by myself. There I was, a small little thing, lost in that big double bed under that big mosquito net.


Lucky for me my parent's room was just a few feet away. They wisely left their door open so the light from their room cast a comforting glow over the bed and I didn't feel so alone.

I don't think I made a fuss about going to bed, that wasn't like me. And I didn't have any nightmares. In fact I think I rather liked being an only child, having Mom all to myself.

Everything was going alone just fine.

(Can you sense something about to change? Can you sense an adventure?)

I had settled into bed and Mom had pulled down the mosquito net to tuck it in when I let out a screech. Now Mom didn't call me one of God's Screechers for nothing. I had a piercing scream that could carry for miles, bouncing off hills and traveling across the water three miles to St. Thomas.

There, inside the net with me was a... land crab. They are not small, and with claws extended can easily reach a foot or more across.

Dad rescued the poor disoriented thing and set it free outside, while Mom calmed me down. How it got inside the mosquito net remains a mystery to this day.

Land crabs mostly live in mangrove swamps in holes they dig down to water level. This way they can keep their gills wet. However, they do wander around top-side, particularly at night. They are good to eat. In the old days people would catch them, put them in a 55 gallon drum and feed them coconut meat and corn meal. It cleaned out their swampy innards and made the meat sweet, sweet.

***

Being Thankful

Today I'm thankful for the little bit of rain we've gotten.

***

What are you thankful for?  What's the strangest animal/insect surprise you've discovered in your home?

The Valiant Land Crab - Part Three

(When last we saw Percival he had streched himself across a great gulf trying to enter the lighted in-way. Then, just has he had gotten all of himself in, the light went out.)

Percival gasped.

"What? What happened?"

It wasn't that he couldn't see in the dark; his hole in the mangrove was a deep comforting black. It just took several long moments for his eyes to adjust. As he did he stumbled, tumbling completely through the in-way and fell.

As he fell through the dark Percival realized something was falling with him. By the time he hit the bottom his eyes had adjusted and he saw a coiling monster that thrashed about and was attacking him. Upon its head were stiff bristles. It had a hard armless and legless body and a great long coiling tail. The bristles he was sure could pierce a crab that had just molted, so he was glad his shell was nice and hard. But the monster in its noisy gyrations beat its hard body upon him unmercifully, and coiled its tail about him.

Percival fought against it. He snapped at it with his great pincher, pinched at it with his small pincher. He scuttled this way and that. More than once as the buzzing, whirring thing beat against his back he thought his shell would crack.

But he would not give up. In one last effort he snapped at the monster with his great pincher and pinned it down. In that very instant two things happened. The monster died and the light came one.

Percival was blinded. Exhausted as he was he bravely raised his pinchers in defence.

He heard humans!

"They have found me and now they will eat me!" he sobbed.

Suddenly he felt himself being pushed along by something and to his amazement found himself OUT SIDE! And there, in the wind he could smell it, his home, the mangrove swamp. It was just there, over that rise. He was free of the human habitations.

He had gone through a maze. He had battled a monster and won. And he was safe on the other side. Never in his life was Percival so happy and so glad. He scuttled away and by morning was sleeping in his own nice dark, damp hole.

He would never leave home again.

This is the true story of a land crab. Somehow he crawled through a bathroom window at our guest house at night. In the process he tangled with and turned on an electric toothbrush with which he did battle, killing it in a fair fight. The guests were kind enough to sweep the crab out of their room.

We all had a wonderful good laugh over this story of country meets city and country wins.

The Valiant Land Crab - Part Two

(When last we saw Percival he had discovered a lighted in-way to the human habitation.)


It was bad enough that the lighted in-way, instead of being a nice, small, round hole, was a huge monstrous flat sided thing. Now, as Percival approached it, he saw to his dismay that there was a gulf, a chasm, between himself and the lighted in-way.

At first he thought to give up.

"They will find me," he cried to moon, "and they will eat me!"

But then he saw the chasm was no so wide as it was deep. He studied it closely and realized if he sidled up side-ways to the chasm and stretched out four of his legs while clinging on the other side with the other four, he would be able to stretch himself across the gulf.

It took all his will power, all the fortitude and bravery he had within his ganglia, to stretch himself across. He dared not look down (not that his eye stocks allowed that much) but he didn't need to look down. Not really, for he could feel the chasm below him, a great yawning maw that breathed cold night air and chilled his under parts.

The breathing made him shiver and two of his legs slipped from the edge of the flat-sided in-way. But quick as a flash he grabbed hold of the edge with his pincher and somehow managed to drag his body completely into the lighted space.

He was just bringing along the last of his four legs when...the light disappeared and Percival was plunged into darkness.

Stayed tuned for Part Three.

The Valiant Land Crab - Part One

(If you haven't seen a land crab before click here for a charming picture.)

This is the true story of an adventurous land crab. It happened at our guest house at Lille Maho.

The Valiant Land Crab

Once upon a time there was a land crab. If he had a name, he didn't tell me, but I'm thinking it may have been something like Lancelot or Percival or Galahad. I think for this story I shall call him Percival, because it sounds like perseverance which he certainly had.

Once upon a time there was a land crab named Percival. He was a curious land crab who left his nice wet home, a hole in the ground in the mangrove swamp, to go exploring. His travels took him many places and he saw many things.

But eventually he grew tired of wandering and headed back home.

That's when he got lost and stumbled upon human habitation.

Percival had been warned by his family and friends to stay away from humans.

"If they catch you they will eat you," was the exact phrase they used.

Now Percival could smell and feel and taste the swamp with his gills. He knew if he could somehow get around or past these human dwellings he'd be able to find his way home by scent alone.

But there was no way around these human dwellings. He realized he was going to have to go through them. Percival thought long and hard about what he was going to do. He thought so long and hard that day turned into night. That's when he saw it, a light.

Percival crept towards the light and lo and behold he discovered an opening into the human dwelling!

He thought, "If I climb through this opening maybe I'll find a way through." He thought this because he had been told by his family and friends that human dwellings have many ways to enter and exit.

"A veritable and terrible maze of in-ways and out-ways," they said. "Not at all proper, like us, with a single door into each of our homes. If you enter, you will never get out. And if they catch you they will eat you."

But Percival had no choice. The only way to go was to go by way of this mysteriously lit in-way.

(Stay tuned for Part Two)

Adventures Under the Mosquito Net - Part Two

For as long as I could remember I had either slept in the same room with my sister, or in the same bed.

While we were still living at The Shell in Cruz Bay, Erva went, BY HERSELF, and spent TWO WEEKS at Camp Elisa, a Girl Scout camp in Puerto Rico. (I went years later, a lovely spot up in the mountains. I have no idea if it's still there or not.)

Anyway, it was the first time in my long life of 6 or so years, that I had ever slept by myself. There I was, a small little thing, lost in that big double bed under that big mosquito net.

Lucky for me my parent's room was like 2 feet away. They were wise enough to leave their door open so the light from their room cast a comforting glow over the bed and I didn't feel so alone.

I don't think I made a fuss about going to bed, that wasn't like me. And I didn't have any nightmares. If fact I think I rather liked being a only child, having Mom all to myself, having her read at night to me and me alone.

Everything was going alone just fine.

(Can you sense something is about to change? Can you sense an adventure?)

I was settled into bed and Mom was pulling down the mosquito net and getting ready to tuck it in when I let out a screech. Now Mom didn't call me one of God's Screechers for nothing. I had a piercing scream that could carry for miles, bouncing off the hills and traveling across the water three miles to St. Thomas.

There, inside the net with me was...a land crab. You MUST click over and see what they look like. Dad of course rescued the poor disoriented thing and set it free outside. How it got inside the mosquito net remains a mystery to this day.

Land crabs mostly live in mangrove swamps in holes they dig down to water level. This way they can keep their gills wet. However, they do wander around top-side, particularly at night. They are good to eat. In the old days people would catch them, put them in a 55 gallon drum and feed them coconut meat and corn meal. It cleaned out their swampy innards and made the meat sweet, sweet.

One night while I was on St. Thomas this summer, the dogs began to bark and worry around the sofa. Erva and I finally pulled it away from the wall, and low and behold, there was a land crab. What was so unusual is that they aren't normally seen much above sea level. This poor crab was definitely lost, up there 500 feet on the hillside. We captured it in a large jar and I took it down to Magens Bay where there's a huge mangrove swamp. I let it go and it immediately found a nice hollow log to hide in while it got itself oriented to its new digs. (ha, ha...get it? digs?)

So the question is, what kind of animal/insect surprises have you found in your home?