Crayfish Hacks Off Its Own Claw To Escape Being Boiled To Death

• The crayfish was climbing out of a hot soup pan to avoid being boiled to death by a diner.
• One of his claws got snagged in some way, which threatened his escape.
• The crustacean quickly hacked off its claw until it falls back into the pan.

Remember that scene in The Little Mermaid in which the lobster Sebastian fought to save his life from the chef who wanted to cook him? Well, this crayfish “did a Sebastian” when he escaped a boiling death, but cutting his own claw in the process.

A video taken at a restaurant in China shows a crayfish climbing out of a hot soup pan to avoid being boiled to death by a diner. As he reached the edge of the pot, one of his claws got snagged in some way, which threatened his escape.

But the crayfish was not one to give up and go gently into the night. In what looks like a scene straight out of the movie 127 Hours (in which James Franco’s character amputated his own arm to escape from the boulder), the crayfish frantically amputated its own claw to free himself from the snag.

One can see it hacking quickly on its limb until the claw falls back into the pan.

When the video was shared on popular Chinese platform Weibo, it became viral and was viewed more than 900,000 as users called for the restaurant to save the crayfish’s life. Comments such as “let him go” and “don’t eat him, seeing how hard he’s trying to survive” were posted by Weibo users.

Tweeter users also got into the action.

So not only did the crayfish survive the boiling pot, the diner also decided to let the determined crustacean live. He told the Taiwanese news that he took the crayfish home and plans to raise it in an aquarium.

Interestingly, this is not the first instance in which a diner decided to let a fish live instead of eating it. A restaurant owner in Camogli, Italy had a grouper released back into the sea because it was still moving as it was about to go into the oven.

Another good thing is that crayfish can regrow its lost limbs, although it can take several months. It’s better than being boiled alive, we say.