![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/A-boy-walks-through-the-crabs-credit-Parks-Australia-via-AP-1024x683.jpg\")
A boy walks through the crabs \u2013 credit, Parks Australia, via AP<\/p>\n A boy walks through the crabs \u2013 credit, Parks Australia, via AP<\/p>\n
Every November, the 1,200 denizens of Australia\u2019s Christmas Island break out the rake and leaf blower and head out to their yards, driveways, and sidewalks.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not dead oak and beech leaves on their minds, however, but another red-tinted carpet\u2014100 million crimson-colored crabs.<\/p>\n
Outnumbering their human neighbors 100,000 to 1, the Gecarcoidea natalis\u00a0or Christmas Island red crab produces of the our planet\u2019s most spectacular migrations: a 100 million-man march of epic proportions.<\/p>\n
For the locals, it takes a bit of patience and a bit of perspective to get through the late October-November breeding period, when the crabs emerge from their forest burrows and travel to the island\u2019s beaches.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome people might think they\u2019re a nuisance, but most of us think they\u2019re a bit of a privilege to experience. They\u2019re indiscriminate. So whatever they need to get over to get to the shore, they will go over it,\u201d said Christmas Island National Park acting manager Alexia Jankowski, who told AP<\/a> that despite being just 52 square miles, the island is estimated to contain 200 million of these crabs.<\/p>\n With the summer rains in the Southern Hemisphere acting as the starting pistol last weekend, the islanders buckled up for disruptions in their day-to-day lives that have to be seen to be believed.<\/p>\n \u201cSome people, if they need to drive their car out of the driveway in the morning, they\u2019ve got to rake themselves out or they\u2019re not going to be able to leave the house without injuring crabs,\u201d Jankowski said.<\/p>\n During crustacean rush hour taking place in the early morning and early evening when the heat of the Indian Ocean sun is more manageable, road closures, home and garden invasions, and other such disruptions become common place.<\/p>\n The tough exoskeleton of the crabs can actually puncture car tires, so automotive prudence and neighborly compassion pay off for the humans who share the island. Park rangers help funnel the crabs to choke points or B-roads that can be blocked from traffic, while 5-meter high \u201ccrab bridges\u201d<\/a> allow the migrants to scale over the larger thoroughfares and descend safely to the other side.<\/p>\n Some residents will put on specially-designed \u201ccrab plows\u201d<\/a> which present as rubber half-moons in front of every wheel that gently push the migrants out of the way.<\/p>\n OTHER STUNNING GATHERINGS: Record Number of 736,000 Sandhill Cranes Flock to Nebraska in Spring Migration\u2013with No Bird Flu<\/a><\/p>\n Once on the shores, male crabs dig burrows where females will lay their eggs. Hatching on November 14-15, the larvae ride the surf and tides before returning to the island as miniature crabs called \u2018megalopae\u2019 in late December, just in time for Christmas.<\/p>\n By then, Christmas Islanders again seek to harmonize with their neighbors\u2014using leaf blowers to push the returning baby crabs, each the size of a sunflower seed and too delicate for the rakes, safely across the roads, beaches, and trails.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/The-scope-of-the-migration-credit-Parks-Australia-via-AP-e1762337227984.jpg\")
The scope of the migration \u2013 credit, Parks Australia, via AP<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/A-Christmas-Island-crab-in-its-megalopa-stage-credit-Christopher-Andrew-Bray-and-Son-CC-4.0.-BY-SA-1.jpeg\")
A Christmas Island crab in its \u2018megalopa\u2019 stage \u2013 credit, Christopher Andrew Bray and Son, CC 4.0. BY-SA<\/p>\n