RESEARCH

at the Bishops Mills
Natural History Centre


[Frederick W. Schueler in the field]




Winter activity
of Cepaea nemoralis snails
in an unprecdentedly warm January thaw



photos by Jennifer H. Schueler, journal by Frederick W. Schueler

this is a prelimianry posting of the field notes, which will be amplified as soon as the pictures are downloaded from the camera and the specimens are counted.








2007/003: the unwinter's quest -- 5 January, Bishops Mills
(a) 1505 @Home 9.5,OVC,CLM streets wet from daylong very light rain

(b) 1506-1517 WAYPT/006 under and ard Apple trees acr CoRd18 fr Houses (a) cache of shells and (b) scattered living ones -- the living ones w appertures either facing up or horizontally, a few with foot exposed, and one active on side of container, but none seen crawling on surface. Most (including the chache) were under loose Microtus-riddled grass, but some under matted Apple/SugarMaple leaves

(c) 1520-1550 WAYPT/002 2 ads out on pavement of CoRd18 HEADING:W, and many more active on the surface between hydro pole and street sign -- picked up by Imogene and ---- with JHS taking photographs. The first ones were in a band off gravel pushed over the grass by the snow plow, so we thought they may have been active because of road salt, but there were also many active back from the road, in thinner grass and ain low bushy areas. We didn't root around to pick up hibernating individuals or shells, except one pocket of shells ubde the long lax grass characterisitic of this stretch of rd. FWS left to put the captives in the fridge, and the others walked south to Starlings drive and back along the W roadside looking for more pockets of activity...

(d) 1555 WAYPT/004 Penetcostal Culvert -- 3 Rana pipiens active in the water away from the hibernaculum hole, photo of the largest by JHS. Again at 16h09 she saw 3-4 frog movements in the ditch away from the hole.

(e) 1603 4-banded mature Cepaea on the roadside a few m N of Starlings drive.

(f) 1611 WAYPT/005 3 mature Cepaea active 20-30cm abv water level in deepgrass tousle at edge of ditch a few m N of Penetcostal culvert.

These were all that the four of us found along the whole W side of the road -- showing how exceptional the area of activity across from the parsonage was. Back at the area of activity, 16h13, with Matt Keevil, about 5 more were seen that couldn't have been missed before, showing that they were coming up all the while. a thermometer left lying on the grass reads 9C.
[young Cepaea on Queen Anne's Lace flower]


30 Main St., Bishops Mills
RR#2
Oxford Station, Ont. K0G 1T0
Canada

(613)258-3107

Aleta Karstadkarstad@pinicola.ca