Coconut crab next two pairs, as with other hermit crabs, are large, powerful walking legs with pointed tips, which allow coconut crabs to climb vertical or overhanging surfaces. The fourth pair of legs is smaller with tweezer-like chelae at the end, allowing young coconut crabs to grip the inside of a shell or coconut husk to carry for protection; adults use this pair for walking and climbing. The last pair of legs is very small and is used by females to tend their eggs, and by the males in mating. This last pair of legs is usually held inside the carapace, in
Coconut crab climb up a tree high and drop the husk nut, to access the coconut flesh inside. They often descend from the trees by falling, and can survive a fall of at least unhurt. Coconut crabs cut holes into coconuts with their strong claws and eat the contents, although it can take several days before the coconut is opened. Thomas Hale Streets discussed the behaviour in 1877, doubting that the animal would climb trees to get at the coconuts. In the 1980s, Holger Rumpf was able to confirm Streets' report, observing and studying how they open coconuts in the wild. The