Mechanic proudly opens drink with the claw of a Morton mud crab before offering the animal a cheers

An Australian man has copped criticism on TikTok for using a crab’s claw to open his drink – and it wasn’t from animal rights activists. 

Mechanic Tyler McCracken, 22, who lives in Bunbury, Western Australia, posted the clip of himself using a brown mud crab’s claw to twist the top off a bottle, then clink the bottle against the crab as if to say ‘cheers’.

‘Once they clamp on they don’t let go – it folded the bottle top in half after,’ Mr McCracken told Daily Mail Australia.

The clip quickly went viral with 180,000 views by Wednesday afternoon. 

It looked like the perfect response to the trending hashtag #tellmeyouraustralianwithouttellingme – which encourages TikTok users to demonstrate what it means to be Australian without words. 

While most who commented thought the party trick was hilarious, there was also plenty of criticism for him choosing a sugary pre-mixed spirits drink rather than a beer.  

Plenty of the responses to his trick claimed an even better illustration of what it means to be Australian if he had been drinking a beer. 

‘Mate you should be a drinking a beer not lolly water and eating the crab not using it for a bottle opener,’ said one. 

‘Crab opener – that’s Aussie spirit right there,’ said one.

‘Now that’s the Aussie way,’ a woman posted.

‘Most Aussie thing I’ve ever seen,’ said another girl.

McCracken told Daily Mail Australia the bottle was his girlfriend’s drink.

‘I only drink beer out of cans and can’t crack one with a crab. That was the missus’s drink to be honest.’ 

After cracking the top off his alcopop, McCracken clinked the crab as if to say ‘cheers!’