Christmas Island, an Australian territory off the coast of Indonesia, is home to so many of the terrifying animals you would associate with Australia.
One group of golfers came too close for comfort with a particularly terrifying species of crab, known as the Robber crab, Palm Thief crab or the Coconut crab.
All three monikers refer to the large cousin of the hermit crab.
The species—native to islands and coastal areas throughout the region—is the largest land-walking arthropod in the world and can reach weights of up to nine pounds.
It makes for a terrifyingly large visual, despite their relative indifference to humans.
Here's a quick primer on the big guys.
Unfortunately for a group of golfers, one particular crab wasn't feeling so indifferent.
Video captured the crab climbed atop one of the party's quiver of golf clubs, where it grasped onto the driver.
As the owner tried to wrest the club back from the crab, its claw snapped it in half.
You can see the battle for the club here.
Videos of human versus giant land crab adventures often end with the crab coming out on top.
Although the crabs are edible and considered a delicacy akin to lobster for many Pacific Islanders.
People who live full time with the large arthropods take a mostly live and let live attitude since the crabs may move fairly slowly, but they're determined and accomplished climbers.
It\u2019s always exciting to meet a kaveu (coconut crab) on the path on our way home. We leave cut coconuts out for them. @KamokaJosh named this guy Antonio.pic.twitter.com/uLO39NFiB7— Celeste Brash (@Celeste Brash) 1641499430
One happy Coconut Crab with its noodles. This guy is probably ~80 years old, and has definitely mastered the 'chopstick' function of its claws #ChristmasIsland #phdlifepic.twitter.com/lYTPA8gMAh— Finella Dawlings (@Finella Dawlings) 1623540884
RUN! IT'S A COCONUT CRAB!\n\nFreakishly huge (9 lbs - 3' leg span), they also have a highly developed sense of smell, w/ 40% of their brain dedicated to it.\n\nAnd their grip is 10x stronger than a human - harder than most animals can bite, except alligators.\n\n(pohnpei_surf_club/IG)pic.twitter.com/aZ8lGvVxe7— Neil Lowenthal (@Neil Lowenthal) 1632344401
Literally just caught a coconut crab idk if that\u2019s what it\u2019s called or ugavule in Fijian at the Nalagi hotel this morning. Funny thing was, it fell from the ceiling.pic.twitter.com/4rIfhQVjXT— kingsKin (@kingsKin) 1578079200
Every morning my cat and I watch animal vids. together. This was her favorite this morning. (Coconut Crab)pic.twitter.com/OweigkDT5y— Doctor Scary and Mister Gory (@Doctor Scary and Mister Gory) 1585831678
This is a Coconut crab\n they can live up to 60 years pic.twitter.com/iIpEj0ZHea— \ud83e\udd8bSimmi \ud83e\udd8b (@\ud83e\udd8bSimmi \ud83e\udd8b) 1623409595
Eventually, after a few moments of hopelessly struggling against the arthropod, the group of golfers gave up and left him with his tattered golf club remains.
The man whose club it ostensibly was also left the driver cover to the crab with a cheeky:
“That’s not fair, I loved that club."
I'll take a hard pass on Australia, and remove visiting there from the bucket list.https://twitter.com/9NewsAUS/status/1477944607455465478\u00a0\u2026— DannoL (@DannoL) 1641422530
That\u2019ll keep the tourists away a little longer https://twitter.com/9newsaus/status/1477944607455465478\u00a0\u2026— GEORGE_7 \ud83d\udd25\ud83c\udde6\ud83c\uddfa\ud83d\udc45\ud83d\udc45\ud83c\udde6\ud83c\uddfa\ud83d\udd25 (@GEORGE_7 \ud83d\udd25\ud83c\udde6\ud83c\uddfa\ud83d\udc45\ud83d\udc45\ud83c\udde6\ud83c\uddfa\ud83d\udd25) 1641378794
Think I'll pass on playing in Australiahttps://twitter.com/9NewsAUS/status/1477944607455465478\u00a0\u2026— FootiusMaximus (@FootiusMaximus) 1641310734
Dark, but I love stories where nature evens the score a little https://twitter.com/9newsaus/status/1477944607455465478\u00a0\u2026— Pip \ud83d\udc2d (@Pip \ud83d\udc2d) 1641297060
Thankfully, all humans and crabs were unharmed in the making of this video.
Golf clubs, however, were not so lucky.
You can find out even more about the giant crabs here.
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Ronald Grump the Muppet in 1988; Joe Pesci as Ronald Grump in 1994; Donald Grump in 2005PBS
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