Polk County
Living
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • January 7, 2015 6A
SHELLS, SHELLS
EVERYWHERE THERE’S SHELLS
Ocean beaches aren’t the only
place to search for mollusks
prefers to collect shells that
are still alive.
The Itemizer-Observer
“They’re a little more en-
tertaining,” he said, smiling.
ONMOUTH —
Walking along the In a small container about
the size of a mint tin, he car-
beach, you may
ries two Oxychilus dra-
happen upon a pretty shell
parnaudi, snails no bigger
and put it in your pocket.
You may not realize you’re than the fingernail on your
pinky finger.
a shell collector, but Marici
“We found them in the
Reid would say otherwise.
backyard in a damp spot
“I don’t see a distinction
under a rock,” he said.
between a casual beach-
“They live near people.”
comber and a shell collec-
These
tor,” said
snails won’t
Reid, presi-
threaten the
dent of the
garden and
Oregon Shell
flowers like
Club and a
the tradition-
resident of
al garden
Independ-
snail will,
ence. “A lot
Jonathan as-
of us (mem-
sured.
bers of the
“They eat
club) are
decompos-
beach-
ing leaves,”
combers.”
he said.
But Reid
EMILY MENTZER/Itemizer-Observer “They do like
prefers to
look for shells Jonathan Reid prefers to some let-
collect shells with the oc- tuce.”
not on the
cupants still inside.
The garden
shore. The
snails are ac-
best place to
tually invasive and from Eu-
look for shells?
“Banks-Vernonia Trail,” she rope, Jonathan said.
Marici Reid and John Mel-
said. It’s land snails she’s after.
lot led an Oregon Shell Club
“There are so many kinds
presentation titled “Shells
of snails,” Reid said. “We al-
Around the World” at the
ways think about snails
Monmouth Public Library
being icky and harmful, but
on Friday. About a dozen
there’s so many species that
people came to learn about
are beautiful. There’s such
mollusks and get an oppor-
diversity out there.”
tunity to touch a wide vari-
Snail shells — regardless
ety of shells.
of whether they live in the
Along the riverbank is an-
ocean, rivers and streams,
desert or on land — come in other good place to find
a variety of intricate patterns shells away from the ocean,
Marici said.
and colors, even though the
Two varieties of muscles
animals are blind or mostly
live in the Willamette River:
blind.
one native, one invasive.
Reid’s son, Jonathan,
By Emily Mentzer
M
EMILY MENTZER/ Itemizer-Observer
Marici Reid collects a variety of shells, but is particularly fascinated by land snails and adaptations of animals.
The Margaritifera falcata
is native. It is larger and
looks a little rough around
the edges, Marici said.
“When they have their
young, they spit them out
when they know trout is
going by,” she said. “The ba-
bies latch onto the trout’s
gills and catch a ride.”
The muscles are not para-
sitic, but more like hitchhik-
ers.
“Their life cycle is closely
related to the trout,” Marici
said.
EMILY MENTZER/ Itemizer-Observer
Boxes labeled “free shells” were available to get attendees of “Shells Around the World”
started on their own shell collections at the Monmouth Public Library on Friday.
The invasive species is
not so picky about how it re-
produces, and has adapted
to the cold waters of the
Willamette.
Originally brought in for
food, it wasn’t anticipated
that the warm-climate,
smaller muscles would
thrive in Oregon’s cold
rivers, but they have.
Gracie Chen of Mon-
mouth picked up and stud-
ied shells in a box labeled
“free shells.”
She carefully placed a
starfish in her brown paper
bag.
“She loves the shells,” said
her mother, Dalia Miao. “We
cannot pick them up on the
beach (in China where they
are from), but we can buy
them in stores, and she
bought a lot.”
Shells have been used to
trade, and some can be
quite valuable.
In the 18th century,
wentletraps sold for tens —
or hundreds — of thousands
of dollars, Marici said. It led
to people making reproduc-
tions out of rice paste. Once
people found the source of
the shell in the Philippines,
they became more common
and of less worth.
“Now it’s the ones made
out of rice paste that are the
real gold mine,” she said.
For more information or
to join the Oregon Shell
Club: 503-363-5017; online
at sites.google.com/site/ore-
gonshellclub1.
EMILY MENTZER/ Itemizer-Observer
Shaun Hibbard examines a wentletrap, a shell once
worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, but now quite
common. Gracie Chen reaches for an abalone shell.
EMILY MENTZER/ Itemizer-Observer
David Craig shows expertise in playing the shells like in-
struments, thanks in part to his experience playing the
trombone. Many shell horns were available to test out.