Faces of the fair

Among the dogs, cats, guinea pigs and other furry pets at the small animals show Monday night, Peyton Lewis waited with her hermit crabs.

Yes, hermit crabs—those soft scavengers that protect themselves from predators by squatting in abandoned shells littering the coast. They fit in the palm of a young girl’s hands and, admittedly, fall short in the companionship category, at least compared to normal pets.

“They’re not needy,” Lewis said. “But you need to keep their humidity right.”

Lewis, from Sidney, has cared for almost ten hermit crabs over the past several years. She also owns three cats a...