Ok, so this is another tale of occurrence from my time on Sanibel Island. I found out that I had still not learned my lesson when it came to keeping God's creatures (meant for the outdoors) inside. Let me begin by telling you that I had no intention of hurting any or killing anything but sadly this is what came to pass. We had gone out to the ocean at the peak of low-tide to gather seashells. I came across many interesting shells that had little baby crabs in them. They were so interesting that I began putting them in my bucket whenever I came across one. I also found a couple of snails which joined the crabs in the bucket. At the end of my walk I had intentions of letting them go, but I wanted my little cousins to be able to see all of the sea life first. (Also earlier this day we rescued four sea anemones which we placed in a separate bucket with ocean water). But it just ended up that the timing was off and the kids had already headed back to the pool close to the room. So I took the bucket of anemones and gently released them back into the ocean....that is save one. Because it had attached itself to the bucket and I didn't know how to get him off without hurting him. So I took some shale from the beach and put it in the bottom of the bucket hoping it would attach to that and then put the crabs and few snails in the bucket also so that the kids could see them all at once. Well the evening proceeded and the kids still hadn't seen the animals but they really needed to just get ready for bed. So I figured, "What's one night? They'll make it through and I'll take them back to the ocean when we go the next morning." He-he.......funny the way things don't turn out the way you think they will. I went to check on them the next morning and things didn't smell to good. This made me very sad and distraught at heart. Because I realized that I hadn't learned my lesson like I thought I had.
When I was little I was infatuated with frogs and toads (especially ones that showed up in our yard before a good rain). I used to catch them, bring them into the house, and thus proceed to create a bed for them using what ever was on hand. Usually, washcloths were the preferred bedding. I would watch them in the sink for how ever long, and when they looked tired would put them in the washcloth and set them on the closest window sill. This would disturb April on the nights I slept in her room because the aftermath was there for her pleasure in the morning. In short, they would die. My dad was also not a fan the time I used his shoe as the bed for my baby frog. It is highly fascinating the way fire ants go unnoticed on red leather shoes when there is no prior knowledge that there was something of their liking inside (aka: the dead frog). Then came Toady. He was one of the first toads I released back into the yard after playing with them. And every time it would rain I would find a toad of a slightly larger size than before, so I was convinced it was Toady and that he was coming to visit. Thus I learned my lesson to let living creatures remain outside.
So in returning to the story of the little crabs you can see why I was so dismayed to find that I had repeated the past. Needless to say, I held a funeral for the little crabs in the ocean the next morning. My little cousin joined me in the ceremony whence the speeches consisted of, "Poor little crab." And although we had a hard time keeping them buried under the sand on the sand bar (due to waves) I still felt I had done a little to make up for the loss. Also, I decided not to collect anymore sea shells from that point forward. OH! the sea anemone lived as well as the snails. So my theory of them making it through the night was half true. Lesson learned: Leave things where God created them to be unless he specifically tells you otherwise. I'm sorry little crabs. I've learned my lesson....again. So take the opportunity to learn from my mistakes. Don't keep wild animals. Love to you all.
-Carli
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