Oreo's Story
Continues
September 03 - 15, 2004
Oreohelix
strigosa
(Gould, 1846): Rocky Mountain Snail
Synonyms. Helix cooperi W. G. Binney, 1858; O. strigosa canadica
Berry, 1922.
September 03, 2004: Measurements: Shell is 15 mm in diameter and 11 mm. high. Soft body stretches to about 25 mm. but hard to measure as he pills back into his shell if you bother him.
Oreo continues to thrive and has actually added a new portion on to the lip of his shell since I have been his care giver (Aug. 23, 2004). Like any other animal that I have kept as a pet, Oreo too seems to follow a daily regimen.
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Oreo's
diet
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Likes:
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Dislikes
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Oreo gets up about 8:00 AM every morning. He/she ripples his way from his upside-down position under his favorite rock and meanders to the water at the far end of his pen. He has a drink them decides what he wants. He has always headed to the oatmeal porridge first (we figure his ancestor's must have been Scottish). His second choice is usually lettuce then later in the day he tries different foods. Oreo has been observed on his chunk of cuttlebone about every second day. He will spend about an hour on this. |
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Oreo does leave a mucous trail; but, it is a very fine trail as compared to other terrestrial snails and slugs that I have observed in nature. What you see behind him in the next picture is actually water that he has trailed to his oatmeal, not mucous.
The only food that he actually "slimed" was an unsalted peanut. Whether he was saying "YUCK" or preserving it for later, I'll never know and he isn't talking.
After breakfast, Oreo crawls his way into the mossy area of his home and stays there for several hours. He may or may not get up again until evening. Most often he just tucks off into the moss and rests for a few hours then either eats again or heads to his rocks.
When Oreo retires for a long rest (several hours or over night), he usually crawls to the under side of his favorite rock and hangs upside down from there. Occasionally he still hangs upside down from his terrarium lid; but not very often.
I wonder if this upside down resting position in his native habitat (rock slide) would provide a good hiding place for him from his enemies or possible keep him out of rainfall or water accumulation under the rocks?
His enemies in the Stanford Range would be, skunks, weasels, martins, grizzly bears, and various birds such as raven or crows. We actually saw a young (about 2 years old) grizzly bear just a few miles from where Oreo came from on the day he was obtained.
September 16, 2004
Oreo
continues to thrive; but, we have noticed that he is less active now.
This could be due to the shorter cooler days we are experiencing now.
Surprisingly, he appears to be more active during the daylight hours
than at night. He added dandelion greens to his favorite food list last
week and is ignoring this over his lettuce which now goes untouched.
Oatmeal mush remains his all time favorite and he appears to be quite
healthy and there is more evidence of new shell growth.
Interesting emails:
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Since you're in Invermere, you are well-positioned to find Oreohelix; I can't remember if there are records along the valley bottom there, but there are certainly along Kootenay Lake. Oreohelix have always been a difficult group of snails to identify for me; what you have seems to be one of the higher-spired snails. I found some like that up in the limestone subalpine meadows around Fernie. Whether they are all the same species is questionable. **O. subrudis and *O. strigosa are quite alike, yet exhibit some amount of plasticity in their shells -- the differences are anatomical...
( *Oreohelix strigosa: (Gould, 1846): Rocky Mountain Snail
** Oreohelix subrudis (Reeve, 1854): Subalpine Mountainsnail )
Oreohelix species seem to be habitat specific. I suspect that your snail 'Oreo' may be closer to O. subrudis than strigosa...
It may be worthwhile to look further for Oreohelix in unusual habitats. There are some narrow endemics in Montana, for example which, conceivably, could be in B.C. One in particularly inhabits deep alpine scree; even at its known localities it is difficult to find because normally it stays down in the deep rubble where the moisture is... R. Forsyth -
I have had a few email requests for Oreo's shell.... Sorry, Oreo is very much alive and I hope he stays that way a long time. If he does die, I will personally be keeping his shell as a memento.
