Land of the Living

I knew something was there because my eyes were reporting movement in my peripheral vision.  But, by the time I focused on the spot, I saw nothing but a sandy beach.  Happily, I have learned over time that when this occurs I should stop moving and just watch because there was probably something to see.  I just needed to wait a bit.

There were several small holes just above the water line on Pakala Beach, which told me we might have some creatures using them for shelter.  So, I watched for a while and saw these little crabs slowly climbing back out of the holes they had scurried into as I walked by.  And, at about that moment, someone else walked by - and they dived back into their respective holes.

The crab shown above shall heretofore be known as Claude (or Clawed).  Claude was a crab that decided it was okay to go about business even though a human was insisting on pointing a camera in its direction.  Claude is a Pallid Ghost Crab or ohiki (Hawaiian) and its body was just around one inch in diameter - not a very big critter at all!

The eye stalks were actually fun to watch.  Claude would sometimes turn them sideways, and they did NOT have to go in the same direction.  The crab's coloration was very close to the color of the golden colored sand on this beach and I read somewhere that these crabs may have different coloring depending on the color of the sand on which they live.  It's also interesting to note that one claw is significantly bigger than the other.  This appeared to be true for all of the other Ghost Crabs we watched over a period of a few days, though I admit that I did not check to see if the larger claw was always on the same side (right or left).

That sounds like a worthwhile project some day.  Go sit on a beach and make detailed observations about ghost crabs....  Why?  Well, why not?!? 

Claude was not the only critter we found on, or near, Pakala Beach.  We found ourselves a beautiful looking "Shelob" in the bushes not far from the beach.  And for those of you who do not know, we often call orb-weaver or other showy spiders "Shelobs" in reference to Tolkien's great spider in Lord of the Rings. 

This particular Shelob is known as a Hawaiian Garden Spider and she does not look terribly different from some of the orb weavers or garden spiders we have in Iowa.  Perhaps it is a bit more colorful, but the shape and size are quite similar.  The web has a similar stitch mark towards the center and they seem to like the same sorts of locations to set up a web for the day.

In the process of looking up information, I found this great science packet for elementary school aged kids (though I thought it was fun myself).  This particular resource focuses on Nananana (spiders) and it includes some identification information for spiders in Hawaii.

As for the Hawaiian name for spider - once again it is nananana - I really can't think of a better name.  When a spider walks you can almost hear "nananana" in your head.

Not everything we found on Pakala Beach was a happy, and living, organism.  We took note of a very colorful lobster carcass and determined it must have been a type of Spiny Lobster or ula (in Hawaiian).  The exoskeleton was rather colorful, even though the animal was no longer living.  This particular specimen was about a foot long because...

Well, it was about as long as my foot.  There you have it. 

Now for those of you who think I'm being facetious, we have long known that my foot is actually, and in fact, one foot - as in the English unit - long.  So there.

On one of our Mahaulepu walks, we noticed a bunch of little lizards on the rocks and they were kind enough to pose for a photo or two.  They were clearly sunning themselves happily during the early to mid-morning hours - a point in time when the sun was warm, but not too warm.  

After doing some searching, we discovered that these were PROBABLY Mottled Snake-eyed Skinks.   We do have to admit our shortcomings when it comes to determine fine differences.  It turns out there are a whole bunch of snake-eyed skinks in the world.  However, we are saved some of the struggle since that list is smaller for the island of Kauai.

While these critters didn't seem too concerned with us, it was clear they could really get moving if they wanted to.  But, since they were camped next to a popular hiking trail, I suspect they were pretty secure with the fact that the klutzy humans were an unlikely threat on the uneven rocks they preferred to sit on.

We were even able to discover some "wildlife" in human habitat.  The Gold-dust Geckos were loving an orchid shop in Kapa'a town.   These little critters are fairly common on the island and are diurnal in nature. They are not native to Kauai, but there are numerous ways they could have infiltrated the island - including the fact that people like to keep them as pets. 

Clearly, they are not terribly worried about humans either.  They are frequently found in houses and will periodically make little chirping noises to let you know they are around.  One restaurant we visited even left a treat out for a Gold-dust Gecko friend and they would go out of their way to ask patrons if they were okay with sharing a table with a gecko.

We did enjoy watching it eat a cherry, but it did not have an Australian accent, nor did it try to sell us insurance.  I only say that because I know a couple of you were just desperate to ask, and I wanted to help you to have an even better day than you are already having!

There you are!  A chance to learn a few new things and an opportunity for me to share some of the neat critters we met on our excursions on the island of Kauai.

Have a great day everyone - even if you weren't one of the one's curious about the gecko's professional exploits and global accent!