Key West’s urban landscape hides plenty of wildlife, if you know where to look.
Cardisoma guanhumi, also known as the giant crab or the blue land crab, looks creepy but is fairly skittish and mostly vegetarian (occasionally scavenging meat.) Females go into the ocean to lay their eggs: this land crab spends its larval stage as free-swimming sea creatures. Though they are harvested for food in Venezuela, Bahamas and the Caribbean they aren’t on menus in Key West.
The best place to see land crabs is along the trails and boardwalks of a small wetland preserve wedged between two condominium complexes in midtown Key West. Both small trails in the reserve lead to a strip of beach where sunbathing, splashing humans are replaced by gulls and wading birds. It’s a great space to just stop for a second and breath and get the sound of the city out of your ears.