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Little Lines About Large Lobsters

One of Cape Cod’s most succulent dishes is “boiled live lobster.” The lobster is not only good eating, but despite his homely, even ugly form, is quite an interesting creature.

For instance, he can grow a new claw if he loses one. He grows other lost or damaged parts. Also, he “swims” backward by means of an awkward motion of his tail. His two large claws have each a different purpose: one is to cut with, the other to crush with.

Lobsters in their native element, or fresh from it, are a lot livelier than the half-frozen critters you have seen on crushed ice in a store So keep your thumbs and fingers at a safe distance from their claws, unless you know how to “take `em alive.”

In colonial times lobsters were said to be so abundant that after storms the beaches would be strewn with them. Not being the delicacy they are today, they were buried in gardens for fertilizer or used as bait for striper fishing.

The Boston Museum of Natural History used to have Ike and Mike—two big fellows that weighed over thirty-eight and forty-two pounds apiece, respectively.

When I was commercial fishing we used to catch huge lobsters in our nets. We always let these monsters go, as very large lobsters can be 75 to 100 years old.

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