Melbourne resident finds tiny legs in backyard drain: 'Help'

A Melbourne local came across a mysterious find in their backyard drain pipe, which naturally left them a little concerned and wanting answers.

Upon clearing leaves from the drain, the Malvern East resident discovered many dismembered crustacean legs, not understanding why they were severed and where they were coming from.

After posing the question to neighbours to no avail, they shared the bizarre findings on social media, hoping for the mystery to be solved.

"Help! Why are there crab legs in my drain?" they said on Reddit this week. "So I cleaned out the leaves from my backyard drain pipe recently only to find many, many severed crab legs in my drain.

"Can’t figure out where the pipe originates or why they’re ending up in my backyard.... There are no restaurants in close proximity that serve crab that I can tell, and my neighbours have said that it’s not them."

Many curious locals flocked to the post, some having their own ideas of what could be at play here.

"I have seen crabs fighting and taking a leg out off their opponent. I think it could be something like that going on," one person said.

"As a roofer I often find roofs littered with bones left by birds. I would imagine birds are eating crabs on your roof and it’s going down the down pipe," another said.

But mostly, people were left just as confused as the poster. "The world continues to get weirder," one person said. "That's terrifying and I have nothing to add," another wrote.

Legs likely belong to Common Yabby

The blue coloration of the legs suggest they belong to the Common Yabby Cherax destructor, a marine expert from Museums Victoria said.

"Yabbies are common in ponds, lakes and other bodies of still water throughout south-eastern Australia," they told Yahoo News Australia.

As for where they are coming from, that would depend on what the local's pipe is draining — whether it's the roof of the house or perhaps stormwater at ground level, the spokesperson suggested.

The species got the name 'destructor' because of the damage its burrowing can cause in farm dam walls and levee banks, according to the Australian Museum.

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But why were only the legs found?

Strangely, it's actually common for yabbies to be found with claws or legs missing thanks to competitive fights with other yabbies for food and dominance or trying to escape from a predator, the Department of Primary Industries says on their website. Some of the natural predators of the species include fish, birds, insects – and, of course, people.

Another reason for loss of limbs could also be moulting — otherwise known as shedding — a time which can make them more vulnerable to predators.

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