Lmst

Hairy hermit showing off those hairy chelipeds and legs. See the second hermit? Look for the eyes. #VancouverIsland #HermitCrabs #IntertidalInvertebrates #Invertebrates #MarineLife #DailyHermit

Two hermit crabs. The large one faces us, eyes forward, dotted-line antennae spread wide. All four walking legs and the two chelipeds are visible here. The legs are orange and greenish brown, and have white and blue patches. The large cheliped is a bright orange. The smaller cheliped, in focus, shows the many sensitive hairs along its full length. Between the two chelipeds are the third pair of maxillipeds (mouth parts). The second hermit, the same species but much smaller, faces away from us; look for the two black eyes on their stalks above the mouth of the brown and white mudsnail shell.
On the right there's an old abalone shell and part of a brown kelp holdfast.

Wanderin' Weeta boosted:

The antidote to materialism isn't minimalism; it's maintenance. Keep things. Fix them. Mend them. Grow old with possessions you know well because you've cared for them.

Wanderin' Weeta boosted:

@ai6yr @michael_w_busch

I think I get it.

I found this plot of population density in Canada.

https://canadapopulation.org/population-density-of-canada/

There's eastern canada that's toronto to quebec where there's one blob of people

There's an empty Ontario separating the two.

And then there's a big smear of people that starts in Manitoba and goes west which I guess is "western canada"

Stranded at low tide. A Hairy hermit retreats into a shell too small to hide completely. The blue cheliped is newly-regenerated; hermit blood is blue. (Moved to a safer, protected location after the photo shoot.) #VancouverIsland #HermitCrabs #IntertidalInvertebrates #Invertebrates #MarineLife #DailyHermit

On a sandstone beach, a hermit crab lies exposed in the sunshine. He lies with three legs and the large cheliped wrapped around the shell, closing the opening; the rest of his body is hidden inside. The antennae are visible; one makes a loop, repeated in his shadow. The first segment of the large cheliped is bright blue; the rest of the hermit is greenish grey, partly obscured by sand grains, which also coat the whelk shell; a strand of sea lettucee is wrapped around the spire of the shell. (The white circle with a dark centre in the loop of the antenna is not an eye; it's a small barnacle; two others are visible in the sunlit area.)

All dressed up: another hairy hermit, this one wearing a moon snail shell patterned in blues and greens, the blues matching Hermie's knee markings.
#VancouverIsland #HermitCrabs #IntertidalInvertebrates #Invertebrates #MarineLife #DailyHermit

Side view of a mostly brown hermit crab, showing the large cheliped, and two legs, these with blue and white patches. One eye is visible, striped in black and palest blue-green. The green and white spotted antenna catches the light at its tip, so it looks orange. The hermit wears a round shell, from a moon snail; it's eroded and covered with algae, some green, some a light blue. The hermit walks on a collection of shell fragments, with a couple of entire mudsnail shells. Background; the colours of assorted seaweeds, red, green and bright yellow (this is a piece of a kelp float.)

Lodgepole pine pollen cones, Buttle Lake. New blog post: https://wanderinweeta.blogspot.com/2025/05/in-spite-of-my-laziness.html #VancouverIsland #Trees #PineTrees #Nature

Branch tips of a pine tree, with clusters of pollen cones, looking somewhat like tiny corn cobs (without the husk) with the individual grains red, the base yellow. They point outward in all directions. Just above the cluster of cones, new stems grow; these are green with red markings. The branches, below the cone clusters, have long, green needles pointed in every direction.

Hanging in there. A hermit crab clinging to an eelgrass blade. A couple of slippersnails are browsing on the algae on his tiny shell.
#VancouverIsland #HermitCrabs #IntertidalInvertebrates #Invertebrates #MarineLife #DailyHermit

Several blades of eelgrass cross the photo; on one, a small hermit crab clings; we see him from the back. The legs are folded around the eelgrass blade. His stalked eyes are raised, one antenna pointed backwards toward us. The shell he wears is small, with a body whorl and only two spiral turns. On the shell, which is coated with green algae, two slippersnails are feeding. They're slightly conical snails and the tip of the shell is bent into a hook. One is at the front of the shell, and two little tentacles are visible.

Dogwood flower, with longhorn beetles. New blog post: https://wanderinweeta.blogspot.com/2025/05/where-dogwoods-are.html
#VancouverIsland #Flowers #Bloomscrolling #Beetles #Invertebrates

A branch with large, green leaves, and in the centre, a dogwood flower. The flower centre (where the actual flowers are) is a cream and green mound; around it are the 4 large, white bracts. Foraging on the central flower mound are two long beetles; their elytra (wing cases) are whitish with black semi-circles along the outer edges.

Two stress-free (for the hermit) ways to tell if a hermit crab is male or female. 1. Watch her tend to her babies. 2. Watch him carrying his girlfriend around, holding the edge of her shell. Like this pair.
#VancouverIsland #HermitCrabs #IntertidalInvertebrates #Invertebrates #MarineLife #DailyHermit

Two hermit crabs; both green, hairy, with white patches on their legs, green antennae. He wears a white shell; hers is dark. They face the camera, the male above, holding onto the edge of the female's shell beneath him with his smaller cheliped. He is slightly bigger than she. They sit on pieces of kelp, bits of shell, and sand.

Little Prince's Pine flowers, Chimophila menziesii. New blog post: https://wanderinweeta.blogspot.com/2025/05/delicate-whites.html #VancouverIsland #Flowers #Bloomscrolling #Nature

Tiny white flowers with pink petal edges. Three flowers on a slightly hairy stem, the flowers nodding, seen from the side and back. In the background, against the green of the forest, there's part of one lance-shaped leaf of the plant next to this one.

Baby Hairy hermits are tiny, barely visible to the naked eye. They grow rapidly, through a series of molts, always moving to a larger shell. Here a juvenile (teenager?) climbs a broken kelp holdfast, behind an adult. They're wearing similar shells, in appropriate sizes.
#VancouverIsland #HermitCrabs #IntertidalInvertebrates #Invertebrates #MarineLife #DailyHermit

Two hermit crabs on a piece of kelp holdfast (part of the greenish, spherical float, and several tube-like branches, reddish-brown to almost black). One hermit is small, has pale orange legs and chelipeds, and wears a small, round shell. He climbs one of the kelp "tubes". The second hermit, apparently the same species, but 4 times the size of the first, is greenish, with white patches on her legs; they match those of the youngster. Her shell is similar, but much larger. She sits peacefully, watching the world go by.

"Bubbles" A hairy hermit on sugarwrack kelp, poised for a tumble down onto the sand. Hermits don't jump; they just let themselves fall; no problem, the shell rolls and absorbs the impact.
#VancouverIsland #HermitCrabs #IntertidalInvertebrates #Invertebrates #MarineLife #DailyHermit

A brown hermit crab stands on a blade of reddish brown seaweed. Hermie is face down, with the shell above the body, antennae pointing downward, sensing where the tumble will take them. The shell is almost black, a nicely-rounded shell with few spiral turns. A few bubbles float in the water, and some are stuck on the hairs on Hermie's legs and chelipeds.

Pinesap, Hipopitys monotropa. Brand new flower stalk. New blog post: https://wanderinweeta.blogspot.com/2025/05/more-pink-stuff.html #VancouverIsland #Plants #Epiparasites #Pink #Nature

A small plant, sprouting out of a mossy bank. Mostly pink; thick, pink, fleshy stem, pink sepals, and creamy petals with fringed tips. All looking downward on one side of the stem. Hipopitys monotropa = "below trees one sided".

Every sense alert. She's as curious as a kitten, and her eyes, antennae, antennules, even the hairs on her legs keep this Grainy Hand hermit in touch with her world.
#VancouverIsland #HermitCrabs #IntertidalInvertebrates #Invertebrates #MarineLife #DailyHermit

A close view of a hermit crab looking straight at the camera. The eyes, on orange stalks, are wine-red, with a dark centre. Beside the eyes, on the outer side, the two orange antennae are spread wide, the tips reaching out of the photo. Between the eyes, the two antennules, the smelling and tasting organs, wave constantly, looking like little candle flames, bright orange. The legs and chelipeds come towards the camera; only the first segments are visible; they're brown with lighter buttons and long hairs; these are also sensory organs.
The hermit is wearing a green shell, out of focus in the photo.

So many choices! Too many? A small hermit crab checks out the stock of new outfits; a dozen assorted shells, mostly native varieties, with one imported zebra nerite. And there's that big whelk shell; too big now, but give him time ...
#VancouverIsland #HermitCrabs #IntertidalInvertebrates #Invertebrates #MarineLife #DailyHermit

On the right, a green and brown hermit crab stands on top of a large, whitish whelk shell. He wears a brown and white mud snail shell, clean and new-looking. Below him, on the floor, lie a mix of shells, all but one unoccupied. There are more of the mudsnail shells, long and narrow, some brown and white, a couple dark brown. There's an oval, white shell, and an exotic; an orange shell striped with black (this one purchased from a pet store).
Background; water, and more shells, blurred by the water currents.

In a pensive mood. Hairy hermit gazes into space, tastes the water with those delicate antennules.
#VancouverIsland #HermitCrabs #IntertidalInvertebrates #Invertebrates #MarineLife #DailyHermit

Side view of a Hairy hermit crab. The light shines on the top of his carapace, highlighting the tiny hairs. The eyes on stalks seem to be looking upward; between them, the antennules stretch out. They have a green shading to orange segment, then a S-curved segment, pale bluish, ending in a point; below that, there's a small spike; these are sensory organs, smelling and tasting the water. The hermit wears a round, dark grey shell. At the bottom of the photo, light shines from behind through the leg hairs. Background; water, pieces of bull kelp.

Pink shore on Buttle Lake. What is this plant? New blog post: https://wanderinweeta.blogspot.com/2025/05/i-give-up.html #VancouverIsland #Plants #AquaticPlants #Lake

View from the shore; overhanging fir branch, deep water, shallow water, flat sand, then steeper slope leading up to evergreen forest. The shallow and flat areas are covered with short, red or pink plants.

Closer view of the plants. They look like short, thin, red grass, in clumps with a bit of pale brown at the base.

Another look at a hermit crab's food-handling equipment. In case of accident and loss of the chelipeds, these three pairs of maxillipeds can do the work of collecting and transporting food until the next molt, when there will be new chelipeds.
#VancouverIsland #HermitCrabs #IntertidalInvertebrates #Invertebrates #MarineLife #DailyHermit

Close-up photo of a Hairy hermit's face, the eyes lifted on their stalks, the green antennae spread widely. In the centre are the varied mouthparts; going from bottom to top, the 3rd pair of maxillipeds, here curved downwards. Then two smaller pairs of maxillipeds, pale blue, sharply angled. And above that, the white mouth. The hermit's body is pale brown, the legs brown and yellow, and very hairy.

Do you see a second face here? Really, it's just a Hairy hermit crab displaying his mouthparts; mandibles and 3 pairs of maxillipeds, all used for holding, turning, sorting, cleaning, tearing, crushing food.
#VancouverIsland #HermitCrabs #IntertidalInvertebrates #Invertebrates #MarineLife #DailyHermit

A hermit crab faces the camera. The chelipeds and legs are brown, the antennae green and white dotted lines, the eyes black and grey on green stalks. They're wearing a mudsnail shell, long and narrow, with 7 spiral turns and the body whorl.
Underneath the eyes, a variety of mouthparts are visible; in the centre, in a white patch, the mandibles (jaws). Below, on both sides are three pairs of elbowed grabbers, the maxillipeds; these are green with white patches.
I haven't been able to identify those black holes that look like spare eyes.
Background: sand underfoot, floating eelgrass in the water.

Cheliped of a Signal Crayfish, on the shore of Buttle Lake. New blog post: https://wanderinweeta.blogspot.com/2025/05/left-on-shore.html #VancouverIsland #Invertebrates #FreshwaterInvertebrates #Crayfish #Nature

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