Nature Study at the Beach :: Pagoo!

We're currently reading Holling's Pagoo for our natural science studies, so one of the highlights of our recent time at the beach was finding a hermit crab.  We have seen them in tidepools and at aquariums, but this was a more personal encounter.

I actually stumbled across it (literally) while walking a fussy baby way down a deserted stretch of beach.  A dead hermit crab, lying belly up far above the water line.  I'm so glad I didn't actually step on it because although it was already dead, the crab hadn't yet been attacked by the birds or bugs, which meant that the body was still preserved.

At home, we carefully slid the last bit of his body from the shell and we were able to get a close look at his rubbery bottom, front claws, and hinged legs.

We compared the body to Holling's drawings, and added our own drawings to our nature journals.

little Pagoo, as drawn by Holling

My son hasn't stopped talking about what a wonderful coincidence it was that we found that hermit crab in the same term that we are reading that story.  I think so too. :)