A Yabby (Cherax destructor) is a freshwater crayfish found in Australia. I’ve seen a couple of them when I’m out in the forests of New South Wales, but the Yabbies I’ve seen up to now were quite small: about the wide of two fingers, and about as long as my longest finger.

Yesterday, I was strolling along a path at Manly Dam, NSW, when I heard a loud rustling at foot level. I looked down and saw a huge black Yabby. It saw me at the same time, and raised its front claws in a defensive position:

Look at those enormous spread claws and that knowing eye! By my estimate, the Yabby was 20 cm long and 4 cm high, and the spread of the claws was about 20 cm.

We gazed at each other for a while, then I carefully stepped over and past the creature. It immediately started retreating backwards towards the footbridge that I had just walked over. I’d been in the way of its getaway. Here’s a picture taken from my video of the retreat (coming up next), to show the scale of the Yabby alongside the footbridge and path:

This video shows the Yabby’s retreat:

If you’re walking along a bush path near fresh water in Australia, and you notice some large holes in the ground, they might be made by Yabbies. (Or by spiders, snakes, ants, etc —you know the story!) Evidently Yabbies got their scientific name, Cherax destructor, from the damage they can do to farmland.

Birds such as cormorants and ibis do eat Yabbies. So do people, large fish, other Yabbies, platypus, and rats. I think most creatures, apart from people, would have quite a fight with this particular specimen though.