120 Million Crabs Take to the Streets on Island

Just as this time of year is heavy traffic season for humans, there's plenty of congestion in the crab world as well. Every year around January on Christmas Island, over 100 million audacious young crabs make their way from spawning-grounds inland in a mass migration towards the sea--clogging up the island's roads on the way. As a result, rangers on island close lanes to cars to avoid having any crushed crustaceans. But despite the large numbers of crabs taking to the streets, there have been no instances of violence--though random pinchings so often go unreported.

In fact, the estimated 120 million red crabs don't seem to bother the island's 1,200 inhabitants too much. "It is difficult to see crabs in the houses," one local resident told BBC Brasil. Still, rangers are doing their best to keep the little crabs on course as they make their way to the sea--even building plastic bridges to help them overcome difficult obstacles and putting up little fences to help guide them along.