A Crayfish Amputated Its Own Claw to Avoid Being Boiled Alive in a Hotpot

Just about everyone has probably found themselves in hot water at some point, but few would go so far as to cut off their own arm to escape. One courageous crustacean has served up a reminder that where there’s a will, there’s a way.

About to be boiled alive for dinner, a crayfish was captured on video amputating its own claw to escape a pot of boiling broth at a restaurant in China last week.

The 11-second clip has since gone viral on Chinese social media platform Weibo, the Straits Times reports.

The video, which has already garnered more than a million views on Facebook, shows the crayfish on the edge of the pot using its right claw to rip off its left one,which appeared immobile.

The diner who captured the video, known as “Jiuke” on Weibo, claims to have adopted the critter and taken it home as a pet.

“I let him live, I already took him home and I’m raising him in an aquarium,” he said, according to the Times. Whether he ate the claw his new pet abandoned in the bubbling soup remains unclear.

As fearless as the move may seem, these freshwater crustaceans have the ability to regrow lost limbs.