Saturday 6 June 2009

A rare carnivore

OK, we saw a few other things at West Barwon Dam - we weren't entirely one-eyed (though we're good at that given that we live in Geelong, the home of the Cats).

We got quite distracted from the fungi at one stage when an Otway Snail was found crawling up a clay bank. (Do snails crawl?) It's a big snail, with a shiny black shell, and this one was fully stretched out. When we disturbed it it quickly tucked away its eyes so we had to wait a minute or two for a 'photo opportunity'. This snail, Victaphanta compacta, is rare and Endangered, is found only in this rainforest and is carnivorous (it eats worms and other snails). We were amazed at how big its foot was.

1 comment:

Snail said...

Lovely animal! That long foot is handy for shoving into the shells of other snails --- they're not above a bit of cannibalism!