What is the best way to kill crawlers in Project Zomboid

Is there a safe way do kill crawlers in melee? It is not that difficult with long reach weapon like baseball bat, but with knives and hammers I do get scratched a lot.

Also when they lie dormant they often injure me with their first "leap".

Solution 1:

When they're dormant, sneak up to them, you will have time to back up as soon as they start moving and get out of their range.

As for killing them, you can circle around them while sneaking / aiming and get behind them. It's a little slower and you need to clear walkers / runners beforehand to be really safe about it, but you can't get hit if you're actually behind them (near their legs).