Mating Land Crabs Are Jail Bait For Poachers

[matcom]

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CORAL GABLES, Fla. -- Some surprising visitors are showing up in South Florida neighborhoods -- blue land crabs.

It seems everywhere you look along Old Cutler Road in Coral Gables, you can find the little guys roaming around.

"It is mating season. They're frisky at this time of year," said Jorge Pino, of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission. "They're very frisky and they want to come out."

Being a blue land crab in South Florida these days is not easy. Considered a delicacy in certain parts of the world, they are being hunted down by South Floridians.

"They take them home and keep them alive for a certain period of time," Pino said. "They give them milk and soy beans and they actually cleanse their system for a couple weeks before they will actually cook them and eat them."

http://www.wftv.com/food/3636892/detail.html