During the summer that I was seven, I used to catch crabs in the Mississippi River, just a short walk from the Sherman Oak. At that time, the largest oak in the world.

I started out with three ringed nets and two buckets provided by my parents. I took a raw chicken bone with a bit of meat on it and tied it to the center of the net. When the string jiggled, I could lift the string and the the sides of the net to catch the crab. I learned that the net just made it harder and more dangerous to extract the crab. All I had to do to catch the crab was to tie a chicken bone with a bit of meat on it to a string. When it was being disturbed, shaking the string would anger the crab and he could no longer be counted on to be rational. Only a few crabs would ever decide to let go of the small hunk of meat and keep their freedom as they where lifted out of the water and dropped into a pail. So all I needed was two pails for balance and two strings with chicken tied to them. A few extra strings with chicken were nice to have, but only two where needed.

The next problem was the metal pail. The crabs were able to crawl out of the pail on their own. So until you caught a second crab you had to leave the chicken bone in the pail and threaten to take it by jiggling the string every now and then.

If one started to climb out, you could pull him back off the edge of the pail by keeping him mad and greedy. Once you had two crabs, they would try to get the other crabs food. This made it easy to take the bone back as they were more intent on the other not getting food than their own eating.

With two crabs, you occasionally had to prevent a crab from escaping. After you had three crabs, they could no longer escape the pail. The other two would pull any that came close to escaping back into the bucket. As long as the crabs still had to climb out of the bucket to escape, you could continue to add crabs. None of them would get away until you got greedy. Once you got greedy a crab might escape.

These methods, always worked and could be used by a child to control some rather dangerous creatures.

A crab can be manipulated by his rage, jealousy, and hatred. With a little jiggling of a string, a crab will loose his freedom, food and life.

If you feel like the string is being shaken and your chicken bone is going to be taken away, don't get blindingly mad. Don't just see the other crabs as your enemies.

Look carefully to see who has the string. A seven year old child with two buckets and two strings can take your food, take your life and keep the chicken bone you so desperately wanted. The string holder does not see you as family, or even as people. At best he will argue whether it is less cruel to put you in the pot and raise the temperature, or drop you straight into boiling water.

As crabs we may see it all as a conspiracy and get even madder at those who collaborate against us. The truth may be simpler. A few boys, exempt from fishing regulations, enjoying their summer on a pier is all the conspiracy needed. If their parents gave them some bait, string and buckets, they can spend their summer on the pier catching all the crabs they want to. Then they can go home to their grateful families and enjoy the sweet meat they caught.