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DIY "Shoes" for Truck Wheels, to Avoid Killing Small Animals

Photographer Chris Bray has come up with a novel way to deal with a crab mass migration

By Rain Noe - January 9, 2020

in Cars

When I borrowed a GMC Sierra for use on our farm, that truck's comprehensive Surround Vision camera system proved incredibly useful; it's the reason I didn't accidentally flatten any of our 200 free-range chickens and ducks.

However, camera systems like that one only let you see the creatures, so that you can brake and wait for them to pass. But photographer Chris Bray had a similar-but-different problem: Living as he does on Christmas Island, which 40 million red crabs migrate across each year, braking and waiting isn't an option--there are just too many of the little buggers.

So instead, he and wife Jess outfitted their Land Cruiser with these clever DIY crab-sweeping shoes:

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"During the migration, which began last month, the roads are closed to protect the crustaceans but Chris and wife Jess run two luxury eco-lodges which they still needed access to. So the ingenious couple invented a unique solution – four large plastic shoe-like sweeps attached to the front of their Toyota Land Cruiser to gently push the crabs out of the way without harming them."

via BoingBoing

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Swati Singh

4 years ago

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These people doing remarkable job .

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William Holden

4 years ago

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Don't want to nitpick or take anything away from the design, execution and good intention of this great device, but calling it a "shoe" is inaccurate and misleading. From the headline I thought it was a traction device that fit on a tire. A "pilot" (a railroad term), "critter catcher", "critter plow", or "crab plow" might describe it better.

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Ray Jepson

4 years ago

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These people need an IDSA Gold award and a C77 award for great design. Don't wait for their application!

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