Chesapeake Bay is about 1,400 miles from Sioux City but Tuesday night one of its aquatic denizens, the kind someone might slather in butter and lemon, was found on the upper floor of the Sioux City Aalfs Downtown Library.
"Staff at first thought it was a toy or fake and then maintenance touched it with a broom and it grabbed it and they realized it was alive," Sioux City Public Library Director Helen Rigdon said.
The crab, which Sioux City Library staff name "Chester," was found near the reference center (perhaps trying to find a map back home) before he was wrangled and placed into a box.
"In my opinion, it was probably the most bizarre things I’ve found in a public library," Rigdon said of the softball-sized crab. "I have found lots of things, we’ve had bats and rabbits and snakes and other questionable items left at the library, in a book drop, beer, but this is the first time we’ve had a sea creature."
Sioux City Animal Adoption & Rescue Center said a Chesapeake blue crab they found at the Sioux City Aalfs Downtown Library on Tuesday nigh…
When library staff called Sioux City Animal Adoption & Rescue Center, Rigdon said they got a good laugh from the operator.
Cindy Rarrat, the president of the Sioux City Animal Adoption & Rescue Center, said it isn't the first crab her organization has seen in the 40 years she's been there.
"We’ve had crabs before and we’ve had alligators and snakes. I don’t think there’s anything we haven’t seen," Rarrat said. However, she did acknowledge that Chester was the largest crab that's been taken in.
Once Chester (also referred to as Wilbur by Rescue Center staffers) was placed in a tank, Rarrat said her team reached out to the Chesapeake Blue Crab Society to see how to best take care of him. Unfortunately, little Chester/Wilbur didn't make it.
"We found him in his tank this morning," Rarrat said Thursday.
Rigdon has an idea about how Chester/Wilbur ended up in the library. She said she thinks a group young people busted Chester/Wilbur out of lockup (an aquarium) and left him at Aalfs Downtown Library.
Rarrat isn't so sure.
"It’s an unknown case of the crabs."
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"Staff at first thought it was a toy or fake and then maintenance touched it with a broom and it grabbed it and they realized it was alive," Sioux City Public Library Director Helen Rigdon said.
The crab, which Sioux City Library staff name "Chester," was found near the reference center (perhaps trying to find a map back home) before he was wrangled and placed into a box.
"In my opinion, it was probably the most bizarre things I’ve found in a public library," Rigdon said of the softball-sized crab. "I have found lots of things, we’ve had bats and rabbits and snakes and other questionable items left at the library, in a book drop, beer, but this is the first time we’ve had a sea creature."
Sioux City Animal Adoption & Rescue Center said a Chesapeake blue crab they found at the Sioux City Aalfs Downtown Library on Tuesday nigh…
When library staff called Sioux City Animal Adoption & Rescue Center, Rigdon said they got a good laugh from the operator.
Cindy Rarrat, the president of the Sioux City Animal Adoption & Rescue Center, said it isn't the first crab her organization has seen in the 40 years she's been there.
"We’ve had crabs before and we’ve had alligators and snakes. I don’t think there’s anything we haven’t seen," Rarrat said. However, she did acknowledge that Chester was the largest crab that's been taken in.
Once Chester (also referred to as Wilbur by Rescue Center staffers) was placed in a tank, Rarrat said her team reached out to the Chesapeake Blue Crab Society to see how to best take care of him. Unfortunately, little Chester/Wilbur didn't make it.
"We found him in his tank this morning," Rarrat said Thursday.
Rigdon has an idea about how Chester/Wilbur ended up in the library. She said she thinks a group young people busted Chester/Wilbur out of lockup (an aquarium) and left him at Aalfs Downtown Library.
Rarrat isn't so sure.
"It’s an unknown case of the crabs."
A shellfish guest: Chesapeake blue crab found at Sioux City Library
Chesapeake Bay is about 1,400 miles from Sioux City but Tuesday night one of its aquatic denizens, the kind you might slather in butter and lemon, was found on the upper floor of the Sioux City Aalfs Downtown Library.
