Claude the Red Crab

The company I work for recently planned to exhibit at a congress so I went there to set up the stand and I took the chance to walk around and see what other exhibitors had to offer. Among all those beach apparel giveaways I couldn't help but falling for this sweet, red teddy-crab that was looking at me behind the counter from where a nice boy took it and handed to me. I asked politely if I could keep it and was answered by a smile.

As means of introduction, my new friend had a hanging label explaining the following story:

"Claude is a Redshank or hurricane crab, named after an old Cayman superstition. Locals say the mass arrival of Claude and friends is an indicator of an active hurricane season. At the season's onset, these crabs can be found covering roads throughout the islands."

Interesting! Was that true? First I needed to have a look where exactly the Cayman Islands are, and once found I thought in this order 1) its shape doesn't really look like a caiman, and 2) this place looks like a good holiday destination for this summer.

But back to the red crabs, it is widely believed by the Caymanians that when these creatures start migrating from see to inland, the hurricane season is approaching. And the bigger amount of crabs, the harder will be the hurricane season.

It seems that the beginning of their migration is related to tides, and tides are related to hurricanes, so the superstition might be right (read here a bit more about it)...traditional wisdom...

In any case the pictures are impressive, this natural phenomenon could be the central plot to a horror film, don't you think so?