Help state monitor crabs spawning on beaches

When Friend Owl — the smart character in "Bambi" — told Thumper, Flower and the famous fawn why two fluttering birds of opposite genders were "acting that way," he pronounced the fowl "Twitterpated."

"Twitterpated?" the three young animals exclaimed.

"Yes. Nearly everybody gets twitterpated in the springtime. For example: You're walking along, minding your own business. You're looking neither to the left, nor to the right, when all of a sudden you run smack into a pretty face. Woo-woo! You begin to get weak in the knees. Your head's in a whirl. And then you feel light as a feather, and before you know it, you're walking on air. And then you know what? You're knocked for a loop, and you completely lose your head!"

Well, leave it to Florida to have twitterpated horseshoe crabs this spring.

Yes, horseshoe crabs. And biologists need your help with the matter.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has put out a call to the public to identify the crabs spawning on beaches throughout the state.

The best time to find this mischief is around high tide before or just after a full or new moon. (The next full moon is April 10.)

Horseshoe crab pair BETSY CLAYTON / FLORIDA WEEKLY Here's what they want to know: time, date and location. They also want to know how many horseshoe crabs you see and whether they're mating. "If possible, specify roughly how many are coupled and how many are juveniles (4 inches wide or smaller)," the FWC wrote in its call for assistance.

I'm not quite sure why this "coupled" thing strikes me as funny, but sometimes it's just the way things sound. I know that such research is serious and important because of how horseshoe crabs benefit humans.

A colleague explained it to me recently as we walked a beach on San Carlos Bay, and then it showed up again with this call from FWC. Research on the compound eyes of horseshoe crabs, for example, led to better understanding of the human vision system. Manufacturers the crab's shell material (chitin) to make contact lenses, skin creams and hair sprays. Horseshoe crab blood is useful in the biomedical industry.

So if you see horseshoe crabs fornicating, here's what to: Go to http:// research.MyFWC.com/horseshoe_crab and fill out an online survey. Or e-mail findings to horseshoe@MyFWC.com. You also can call FWC at (866) 252-9326.

In other news:

• Snook season opened one blustery weekend earlier this month, and the chilly wind and cold water didn't help much. Savvy anglers as recent as last week were being outsmarted by the prized gamefish. But then the water warmed up and the fish started biting — not just snook, but just about everything. At the Punta Rassa boat ramp near the Sanibel Causeway, the fish-cleaning station is as busy as a Circle K on Super Bowl Sunday.

• Another season is here: The springtime call of the Chuck-will's widow. This nighthawk — a cousin of the whippoorwill — belts out its unmistakable call after dark, sounding a loud, repeated, emphatic whistle, "CHIP wido WIDO." For variety, sometimes it will do a low, croaking "wukrr wukrr-wukrr."

My family loves it. We first heard it one late night 11 years ago shortly after the birth of our first daughter, and to this day, we associate it with her birthday.

But the repetition the bird adores has made more than one houseguest crazy. Plus I overheard my neighbor once shout into the night, "Shuuuuuut up!"

— Betsy Clayton is a freelancer based on Pine Island and also is Lee County Parks & Recreation's waterways coordinator. Contact her at boatingbybetsy@ yahoo.com.