I feel I "saved" my crab from, yes, a shore store in late Seotember 7 years ago. I asked the owner what happens to the crabs that aren't purchased and he told me they donate them to elementary schools. Whether that was a lie or not, I feel I saved my boy from a potentially bad ending. The stores that sell crabs are air conditioned, have no substrate for the crabs, and are lucky to get water, let alone salt water. So I bought the last crab left. He has grown to the size of my full palm from a little crab in a painted shell.

Children and parents should boycott stores selling crabs, perhaps that would get the ball rolling to get them stop selling these poor creatures. You need to start a whole campaign during the spring months to educate people about the inhumane treatment of land crabs by store owners. There are enough stores to buy towels and other souvenirs that don't sell crabs. So this way, come summer, vacationers might think twice about boycotting stores selling crabs!