Larry, 0 - Matt, 1

That's right, folks! I caught him! Last night, I fashioned a make-shift trap out of an old 2-litre soda bottle. I cut the top off, turned it around, and put it back into the base of the bottle. With the opening facing back in towards the back, Larry could crawl in, and then would be stuck in there. I cut several small holes in the bottom of the bottle, and on the side. I layed the trap down in the tank, put some sand near the mouth, and put a few small pieces of raw shrimp in the base. I left the trap there overnight - nothing this morning. I elet the trap sit, and when I came home from work - nothing. BUT! Yes, there's always a "but"....

I saw Larry in a different rock from where he normally hides... what was he doing there? I had no idea, but I thought I could try to scare him out, and hopefully catch him before he gets back to his original hiding place. Well, I scared him out, and he got right in to his original home... crap. This just enraged me to the point of now I HAVE to get him out.

So, I went down to the basement, got a 5-gal pail full of aged water, and I took the rock out of the tank. I put the rock in the cold water, hoping to shock him enough that I could poke him with a wooden skewer. I tried that, and it didn't work. I tried going in and out of the water in hopes he'll jump out of the rock to find the water. That didn't work. Eventually, I was resigned to try anything. So, I shook the rock violently above the bucket. Yep, that insane idea of shaking the rock worked. He fell right out... onto the carpet. Did I mention these bad boys can pierce your skin? So, I used my handy-dandy grabby claw thingy, and I grabbed him and put him in the bucket.

Larry is now calmly residing in my quarantine tank. I had nowhere else to put him except for down the toilet. For now, he is a welcome guest in that tank, however I will be doing my research. If he's no good for the main tank, I'm certain he'll be no good for the quarantine tank once I try to put a fish in there.

I'll try to get a picture or two of him this weekend for posting here. Just didn't have the camera at the ready tonight.

OK, OK, I know.... it really was more like Larry 4 - Matt 1, but hey, you don't have to win every battle to win the war!