Crayfish Severs Own Claw to Escape Pot, Wins Over Internet

A crayfish that was to be boiled alive has instead survived and, thanks to its plucky determination, become something of an internet hero. It's all due to this 11-second video, which shows the crustacean on the edge of a steaming pot of soup. As the creature struggles to reverse itself away from the pot it amputates one of its own claws, which is shown submerged in the boiling liquid, in order to make a getaway.

That reportedly earned the respect of a Weibo user named Jiuke, who the Guardian reports posted the clip and says he spared the crayfish's life and is raising him at home. The clip has been viewed more than 1 million times. The BBC's report references the country's crayfish craze, citing a Xinhua report that says China produces the most crayfish of any country in the world, and that its output has swelled from just shy of 300,000 tons in 2007 to about 850,000 tons in 2017. (You can't stick a live lobster in boiling water in this country anymore.)