SCENES FROM THE BEACH | by George Thatcher / FEB. 14, 2015

Walking on the beach, we inadvertently tread atop fiddler crab burrows, where the little animals snooze in hibernation. Because they are not deep sleepers, like bears, they hear our footfalls and will be relieved as we pass their locations. Sometimes we find fiddler footprints outside the burrows, evidence that they interrupt their slumber to forage for food. We noticed that their summer burrows were closer to the shore, while winter burrows are nearer the seawall, protected from flood tides. -- Diary, winter 2015

From the diary of beach walker George Thatcher / Email: fishcrow@aol.com

Collections of Mr. Thatcher's observations are available from Quail Ridge Press (www.quailridge.com or 1-800-343-1583).

This story was originally published February 13, 2016 at 6:45 PM with the headline "SCENES FROM THE BEACH | by George Thatcher / FEB. 14, 2015 ."