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Show 3 n :A s THURSDAY, DEC. The Cache Register The Groce Citizen The News Examiner The Preston Citizen The Leader The Cache Citizen A ' it 29, 1977 f .V i I 1 i Pet rocks on the way out.... ; Hermit crabs move onto the scene ! ' . r TEN LEGS, eyes on movable stalks, and a borrowed shell add up to a strange-Iookin- g pet But hermit crabs make good ones, their owners say. Although terrestrial hermit crabs eat little, they must have access to water to keep their gills moist. i S Be. Most participants agreed that more must be learned about the land hermit crab and its numbers before the pet industry can be regulated. But not everyone believes the hermit crab business needs regulating. We get a nice harmless business going here and they want to go and spoil it, moaned an executive of the largest hermit crab importer. Move over, pet rocks. Hermit crabs are here. Terrestrial hermit crabs are the latest in sedate pets, store owners say. Found in South and Central America and the Florida Keys, they have become Mg sellers at pet shops snd even department stores in the United States. Most of the crabs end up in terrariums. Hermit As one sales pitch goes: crabs are dean, hardy, eat little, and wont reproduce in captivity. They are active, whimsical, and have a cute little walk. I think theyre kind of cute, but some varieties are uglier than sin, said Pete Lieber of the Great American Crab Company, which sells 25,000 hermit crabs a week in the United States and Canada. SALES OF HERMIT crabs have dimbed in the last year; one compnay that began selling them eight months ago now imports 1.2 million a month. Proud owners also supply their pets with crab chow, crab leashes, and, for the active crab, exercise kits. The hermit crab erase has some environmentalists and biologists worried, reports the National Geographic Society. Land hermit crab populations appear to be declining, especially in the Florida Keys. Nobody really knows how many hermit crabs there are, but if youre imputing 1.2 million a month, youre going to make a dent in the population, said a biologist at Florida International University in Miami. Scientists, environmentalists, industry executives, and government officials recently got together at a symposium in Florida entitled: "Her-- : mit Crabs as Pets: To Be Or Not To LIKE OTHER CRABS and shrimp, hermit crabs have five pairs of legs. The first two legs have pincers, which are used for eating and as weapons. Promoters say that if the pets are handled gently, their pincers pose little hazard for people. Ive handled tens of thousands of them and Ive only been pinched twice," Lieber of the crab company . said. MS , f Many Items are Priced For a hermit crab, home is where fit is. Possessing no shell of their own, they spend a good part of their lives house hunting, trying out shells that have been cast aside by mollusks, ... usually snails. Finding a properly fitting shell can be a matter of life and death. To protect its soft abdomen from exposure to hot dry air, a hermit crab will evict and even kill another crab to get its shell. Other times hermit crabs BELOW WHOLESALE ! w. 'v willingly exchange .abodes, and occasionally a large group assembles to swap shells in musical chairs And vesa- to the Ceiling I -' TWIN fashion. Hermit crab salesmen take advantage of the shell game by coaxing crabs into trading the shells they picked up on the beach for more 2 Star Finn Orthopodic (1 only) Rag. 1170.20 (I eelf) Mark III colorful ones. can dress up your crab any way you like, Lieber said. You f FULL LONG BOY 5" Foam Subfimo - the Savings are Stacked 2 Star (1 anty) Extra firm Rag. 5129.00 . (I SHimbor Rost 174 ledeiei keen. II W twieHy. Mis-Mat- 140 ch ly) ImMw ft II pm rnH, . Of-OT.- Mia match 6 year warranty, Rag. $119.20 Loch Ness monster Comot Mis-mat- ch (2 only) I y yw' r warranty, toy. Comot attracts tourists to Scotland (3 iily) IS yr. warranty, Rag. 9219.00 2 Star Finn Orthopedic tear The legend was resur- rected in 1933, when construction of a road beside the lake brought a flurry of reports that a large, humped serpentine creasee. But if theyre unable to ture was surfacing in Loch see the Loch Ness mon- Ness. Since then, there ster, they can always buy have been more than 3,000 Nessie" and toy claimed sightings of the serpents, much Mon- creature. ster Burgers, and order a The numerous reports, drink called Monsters occasionally bolstered by a fuzzy photograph, sugThere is no Mg drive to gest there is something in Choice. cash in on the lakes mystery, however, and the Highlanders remain much as they were before the legend started bringing tourists and technicians with search gear to the region, reports William S. Ellis in the June 20-fo- ot fearsome animate creatures. beastie in the waters to LAST YEAR he return back off and behave Itself. manded a Slumbor I Vf warranty! I fT expedition sponsored by the New York Times. The National Geographic sent a team of underwater photographers and divers, accompanied by Dr. Robert D. Ballard of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. A O" oat liI1 (i"hr) (3 anly) t I .jsf. rest Mattross SHimbor Rest . ", siv.-j-- ") i I 4 ?V; v. v Mark III Extra Finn RJ1MI ed to the lake on an Comot P I i year guarantee Mis-mat- 1 ch tyl (2 1) Uy HUT ca I Wa lly. aywlir. Kf. 1W.II Mark V (I .. . lee. Beg. 199.91 lCQOO creature camera developed by National Geographic was anchored to the bottom and positioned by buoys. To attract whatever lurked in the depths, it was equipped with blinking and steadyburning lights, sound simulations of distressed fish, and a basket baited with Britain's largest freshwater lake, but authorities disagree on what. Speculation runs the gamut from light reflected on rippling water or gas- fish. eous eruptions from the worms depths to and marine dinosaurs believed extinct for 65 milNational Georgraphic. lion years. Mr. Ellis went to Inver"WE REALLY cant assess the value of the Loch ness to observe the most Ness mystery in attract- ambitious effort yet to prove or disprove the ing tourism to the area, an official told him, ad- monster's existence. In 1970 Dr. Robert H. ding that "if the legend is of the Academy of Rines it or true false, proven wouldn't make much dif- Applied Science in Boston sonar to ference. But it is a lovely used side-sca- n track large moving obstory, isn't it? The story is 1,400 years jects in Loch Ness. In 1972 old, Mr. Ellis writes, dat- and 1975 he obtained ing from the time when St. grainy photographs of Columba allegedly com- what appeared to be Mg, II $1 AOOOMt .n f.'ji ,$( -? - QUEEN Longer Mis-mat- ch (I only) ledwdaa Frame, Rea. 229.09 the summer tourist season, one of Scotlands most popular attractions again is drawing visitors to stare at what they cant IlSf.fl TWIN LONG BOY A" With w A sonar device trip- ped the camera shutter whenever anything approached within range but the monster stayed away. The camera rig worked TV (VmP I lliMIllililMMIMIMmiMtl gii'.Xly I'ltHa ,ifiJ IB- - 'n fVV I Queen Size SOt 0.SK.W I a Bookcase Head Board Reg. $239 NOW o o o a o Queen Size Velvet Head Boards 19.00 54 Now i ' : ' i. . (lOifMIpNfiaaS a a a a a tr'T1 v&cV.L, . t 1; ' . SksshsrRost Reg. !. 1 Tslfc lyWfBWlSS (1 c.RraSci-si'rn- i photographed unusual marine life flourishing Atlantic, while at Loch Ness tourists are still hoping for a glimpse of the fabled monster. ir iir flCao well enough, however, for Dr. Ballard later to take it to the Pacific where it around volcanic fissures on the seabed at the Galapagos Rift. This summer, the creature camera is probing the depths of the Cayman Trench in the Shssbsr Raitoi 001 ' 820 North Main, Logan, Utah 7521072 a ( if' a a v |