Danger Snails! Menace of the Marsh?

Danger Snail!  This sounds like some menace in a comic book or silly movie but in reality, it is a nickname that darling daughter, Elizabeth, slapped on the Periwinkles that live in the marsh around the Bayou.  This nicknaming all came about as a result of me reading her the most inane article on the snail.  Not that the subject of the article was so ridiculous but the wording of this "professional" piece was so horribly written that it started a round of giggles that could not be stopped.  One thing led to another and before we knew it, the whole subject matter took on a life of its own.  The once unobtrusive gastropod grew into a menacing superhero!  (A word of warning..NEVER think that you can keep the two of us serious for more than a few minutes at the most!)

The whole article on which our silliness was based stated that the Periwinkle was the scourge of the marsh.  The author claimed that this tiny snail was killing off marshes at a rapid rate..not pollution, not nutria and surely not humans.  It claimed that the snail had killed "11% of the marshes during the drought"....hmmm...not sure what that meant.  Since the claim was not backed up by facts, it was hard to find it credible.  I had not noticed any "death due to snail" problems with my marsh!  Sure it was dying off in areas but this is likely due to herbicides being used in the surrounding area and not to a munching snail.  There are just not enough of these gastropods hanging on the marsh grass spikes to damage it to the point of complete devastation.  I hate to tell those folks that the shorebirds have an affinity for snails.  If you watch on any given day, you can see any number of herons just picking snails off by the hundreds.  Keep the birds and get rid of the snails naturally if you so desire.

One thing that I find interesting about the Periwinkle is that these snails farm!   They will actually cut grooves in the cord grass and poop in them.  This poop acts as fertilizer for a certain type of fungus.  The fungus grows well and then the snail munches it for supper.  The Periwinkle is not a danger!  It is a farmer!  I say keep the snail!