Charlie first put one foot lightly on the crab, hard enough to hold the crawling creature from moving, but not hard enough to crush the upper shell, with its sharp, sticking points. Charlie then reached down and took hold, between his thumb and one finger, of one of the hind “flippers” or swimming legs of the crab, close to where it joined the shell. Held thus, the crab could not reach around with its one remaining claw to pinch Charlie. The boy lifted the crab from under his shoe and tossed the squirming creature into the basket with the other crabs.