In Everglades National Park I noticed a narrow dirt track and wondered what treasures it might hold. The trees crowded in and not surprisingly I reached a point where branches completely blocked the path. My choices were clear, back a long way out or pull out the clippers and get to work.
As I cleared the road, I spotted an interesting, snail type creature hanging from a branch and paused hacking branches to snap a photo. Subsequent research revealed that these tree snails are a mollusc of the genus liguss, or Ligs for short. Curiously, Ligs were quite the coveted item back in the day and their interesting patterns attracted the attention of serious collectors.
Dr. G. Thomas Watters is Curator of Molluscs at the Museum of Biological Diversity at Ohio State University and wrote a wonderful article on the subject. “In Florida the Ligs occurred in three general areas: the Keys, the Gold Coast, and the Everglades. Collecting them, particularly in the Everglades, could be an adventure. And those adventurers called themselves Liggers. On foot, on horseback, in Model As, some of America’s most famous malacologists ventured into the chigger-infested, cotton-mouth crawling, gater guarded, sawgrass cutting landscape in the early 1900s. Long before GPS or even decent maps, these intrepid collectors produced hand-drawn maps and named and numbered hundreds of hammocks and cataloged the Ligs they found there. Archie Jones, perhaps the most experienced of the Liggers, once remarked that a Ligger needed two qualities: high stamina and low IQ.”
Great. I am all in.
A few weeks ago, I was back in Everglades National Park in a special spot where spectacular sunsets are the norm. As luck would have it, there was another photographer who asked if I had seen the tree snails. Excitedly I asked if he was talking about Ligs? Yes indeed and he showed me where this batch were hiding. Imagine that, another modern day Ligger.
Each Lig had a unique pattern and, as snails go, were quite beautiful. I particularly liked the subtle gray marbling on the white Lig. For those curious about the snail itself, I focused directly on the snail’s body in the shell with horizontal stripes.
The moral of the story – nature is endlessly fascinating, clear your own path forward and enjoy the discoveries that await.
Oh, this is just fascinating and adorable. Those of us who are happiest, out of doors really appreciate articles like this. Every day is a new adventure, and filled with wonder! Thanks for sharing!
Glad you enjoyed! It is so interesting what captures people’s imagination but after happening upon this little gem, I totally get it!
Beautiful shells. All nature has something to offer.
I wonder if people ever ate them? We had quite the snail feast in Paris once, including tiny ones that you take out of the shell with a pin.
Snails being quite the delicacy one would think they did. No mention of tasty Ligs though!
Thank you for the colorful history behind these little gems. I had read that these collectors may have burned down hammocks to prevent others from collecting the rare patterns these mollusks were know for.
That is out there behavior! Will keep digging for that. It would take a particularly obsessed and somewhat mentally ill person to do that!