11:17 p.m. Horseshoe Crab Survey

You read it right: horseshoe crab survey in the dead of night!

Now, you may be asking yourself, "how does this relate to horticulture?" That is a great question and the simple answer is, "not really."

But, it's pretty darn awesome to trek out to the beach in the almost pitch dark to look at these fearsome creatures for Felix Neck Sanctuary, Mass Audubon's preserve on MV! Well, they're not really fearsome and the choppy waves were more of a threat than the horseshoe crabs were, but still! #livingthedream, as one of my fellow surveyors said. I couldn't have agreed more.

The weather was heavy with the threat of rain and the wind was constant at the inland-side pond. Curious passersby slowed down to watch our four headlamps romp over the flotsam and jetsam to find the start of the survey site. We saw schools of tiny fish, lost of seaweed, a couple of what may have been oyster-catcher chicks, and, of course, pairs of horseshoe crabs doing their thing.

The males are naturally considerably smaller than the females and they were getting their exercise in as they clung to the enormous females as they were buffeted by the waves. Luckily they are equipped with specialized hooks on their front claws just for instances like this (as well as keeping hold of her after their special night together). Here's a general overview of their anatomy.

Late-night Horseshow Crab Survey Adventure Photos

As a passing fun fact, horseshoe crabs are in fact not crabs at all, but more closely related to spiders. Kind of creepy, but one cannot overlook how intelligent these animals are when you interact with them. Their eyes are knowing, in a way. I better understood this after helping a female horseshoe crab Eva and Tessa found upside down at Great Rock Bight. She was stuck on her back and way out of the water, and it was lucky we found her before a seagull did. I grabbed her properly by the shell, so that she could bend her telson and not hit us, and we studied her legs, telson and hairy mouth. We then picked an open area in the rocks and let her go. She didn't struggle and she watched us watch her from the shore for a while, her black eyes sitting above the surface of the water. It was really incredible.

All in a day's work.

Some other cool highlights from the night:

- The barn owls at Felix Neck (check out their cute, fuzzy chicks at their owl cam though!) scared the crap out of me with their calls before I remembered they were there. Few things are creepier than being in the middle of nowhere by yourself in the middle of the night, armed with nothing but a headlamp and you hear this.
- A lone male, bless his heart, found my wader boot attractive and tried desperately to grab on to it as we waded across a stream. I could feel him try to get a grip and I could get him to get the hint. I picked him up gently and we all looked at him before I gently tossed him away. He got the hint that time.

Finally, "why are surveys important?!" you might ask. Well, there's a conservation and an important human medical reason why.