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Originally Posted by StirCrazy
Think of a snake, it gets cold it slows down and goes to sleep, when the morning comes it layes on the warm rocks or soil to adsorb heat so it can move quickly again.. the snake isn't in pain every time night comes is it? this would be the same for a fish.. as the temp drops it gets slugish and falls asleep well befor the point it is frozen.
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To quote Christy: "Actually the fish remains breathing even while its cells and blood are forming ice crystals"
That is what I believe happens with the freezer method, though I have no scientific proof to back it up. Oxygen depletion in the water as it freezes may also make the crab suffer, though, again no scientific proof on that either. And because I also believe a creature as primitive as a crab still has some sort of way to feel pain, the crab would suffer.
As for snakes, I happen to own one and know a little bit about them, and they're very different from tropical ocean-dwelling crabs
Yes, snakes get cold at night and warm themselves during the day with no harm done. But they seek places where they will keep the warmest at night, even though at night their bodies do cool, sometimes considerably cooler than during the day.
But you're rarely going to find a snake that lives in a place that freezes, except a few species in the Alberta badlands and those that live in the BC interior and other such northern places that experience freezing winter temps. They most likely seek deep hiding places where they can hibernate without freezing. Either that, or they can actually freeze with no harm done, though I somehow doubt the latter. These particular snakes would be the exception to the rule as most snakes live is pretty warm climates where winter or nighttime temps do not freeze.
Then there are certain species of frogs that dig themselves into the mud and freeze during the winter, then come back to life in the spring thaw to look for mates before the insect populations return. Actually saw this on HGTV's "Secret World of Gardens" the other day.
To sum up, I don't think comparing snakes, frogs or whatever, to tropical crabs is a way to gain points in the discussion of using the freezer killing method. Each creature is different in habitat, and how it lives and dies in that habitat.
I'd still never freeze a tropical animal to kill it. Never, never, never. Even though the rock method makes the death up close and personal, and is sickening to do for the human (me, to be precise), that is the only way I will ever kill any mobile critter from our reefs.