HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Did anyone see Survivor last night? One man was pulling what looked to be an E out of her shell to be used as fishing bait. It made me feel awful. One thing to know it happens; another thing entirely to see it. Survivor should know better than to show that stuff. I hate seeing the snails smashed too. They never showed it when the girl killed the pelican a couple of years back but everybody knew that she had done it.

i saw that too.i think because it's a crusteacean, a common "food" animal, that they showed it. also killing invertabrates is often not as offensive as say, killing a bird or monkey, i guess, in TV's eyes.

It's the whole "cute and cuddly" thing - it's much easier to get people in an uproar over an animal that's deemed cute by most people (like pandas and seals) - hermit crabs unfortunately aren't on that list.Hopefully this doesn't offend any die-hard Survivor fans, but something about that show totally turns me off. It seems to draw out and showcase every bad trait in the people who compete.

That's awful, I'm glad I don't watch it any more. I did see it long enough last week to see the Hermie eating a piece of their fish, hahahahahah those meanie's Sandra

hmmmm I smell a petition coming.

I think he was sticking a fish hook through the poor little guy. I'm sure the neighbors heard me screaming.

I felt nauseous, truly sick. I saw the little E struggling to keep her shell while he was pulling her out. Blah! We work so hard to keep ours healthy and happy. It's still a "pet" animal and nothing that contributed one bit to the plot last night. Shock value mostly.I do like Survivor but some parts can be a little gruesome. I've held my breath everytime I see hermies but this is the first time I've seen them used as bait.

I agree with it being awful, especially since they showed it and even said it, but as I mentioned in a similiar anti-Survivor thread, they are actually starving and do need food. Yes it sounds terrible, but if I was stuck on a deserted island and needed food as bad as they do, I would be looking for ANYTHING to use as bait. I don't know, to me it seems just silly to get in a big uproar about it, but that's just my opinion.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Nicole:I felt nauseous, truly sick. I saw the little E struggling to keep her shell while he was pulling her out. Blah! We work so hard to keep ours healthy and happy. It's still a "pet" animal and nothing that contributed one bit to the plot last night. Shock value mostly.Did the E eventually get pulled apart? Thats usally the scenrio for hermit crabs, they rather be torn apart than give up their protective homes. I think that very sad too. Ive always hated the show survivor. Besided its impossible to get any nourshiment from a hermit crab. They have no meat for crying out loud.

Bubu, while I agree that I too would use a hermit crab (or other living thing) as bait if I was starving to death and had no other choice, I object to watching it on TV for entertainment - couldn't they just have said "...and then so-and-so had to use local wildlife as bait..." or something similar? What's the point of showing it? Watching things like that tend to desensitize the viewer, and in a world where we're fighting to get people to be more sensitive to the plight of animals, not less, it just seems counterproductive (and irresponsible of the show's producers).Sorry if I sound like I'm arguing with you - it's funny, I always thought that as I grew older I'd mellow, but I actually get far more upset about injustices now than I did when I was younger. I cannot stand to see cruelty done to defenseless creatures, human or otherwise.

Never watched it.....and now.....i never will

quote:Originally posted by Jonathon:Ive always hated the show survivor. Besided its impossible to get any nourshiment from a hermit crab. They have no meat for crying out loud. they were using it for bait.i don't think this was done for shock value or anything of the sort. like a person hooking a worm on a fishhook, i think this was simply the precursor scene to the scene where they show that one lazy chick catching a fish.

Dellermama: No worries, I don't feel as though you're arguing with me...just debating lol I do agree with you though, that they didn't really need to show it. I think perhaps they just did it to emphasis the name, Survivor, and what they're needing to do to survive. It did bother me, but then again seeing anything used for bait bothers me. Just because I'm a squimesh person, so naturally I let out a "eww!" while watching it. But really, it didn't affect me as a hermit owner, just because I can understand why they did it. I think you're right about entertainment purposes though, if you think about it TV today is full of this kind of stuff, and people are still watching it. They don't see it as a problem because in reality, it's not. Ratings are still high, so why should they worry. Does that make sense?

Oh, yes, from a ratings standpoint, shock value makes sense, but I also think that that standpoint is terribly skewed, coming from minds that care much more about the bottom line than anything else. It's sad - you miss a lot of beauty in life when you view things that way.

Oh! I was just stating how I felt. I think there's a lot that can be left to the imagination on that show without affecting ratings. Very, very little offends me but IMO I didn't think pics of any animals being hurt are necessary. Like I mentioned, they kept the pelican killing off the screen so why show this? A voiceover would have provided enough imagery. dellermama, I agree with you. Age has made me more upset over suffering rather than mellowed me. I can't even kill insects anymore.