I use a pair of metal tongs to grab them. Can't get pinched. I've been got even with gloves on.
That’s a good idea if you’re walking in the water. I’ll carry the bucket and hold the light.
My dads parents and he could consistently pick them up by grabbing them at the base of that rear swim propulsion leg which apparently “paralyzes” them. From my observations it looked a LOT like you had to get the hurt put on a few times before mastering that...
Had an engineer buddy expounding to me in later life that there was NO WAY a crawdad could exert enough force to penetrate skin (as we’re drinking beer and examining one I had). I noted that it was without doubt that if it got hold of him he’d rue it. This challenge was accepted. He was holding it by the back, and preparing to let it pinch the soft web between his thumb and forefinger (which i noted was gonna hurt immensely worse than other areas). He switched to the tip of his thumb. I watched as the claw tips sank into the thumb meat like it was butter simultaneous to him going all YEEEAAGGGGGHHH!!! and shouting about killing it. I fought back the racking laughter long enough to choke out that it was hardly fair to kill it just because he was a dumbass...