When I first noticed all of those gelatinous blobs under the shallow water, I did not know what they were. This happens more often than you might think! I come across something, photograph it, and then later, look it up to learn the details and identify. It motivates me to learn, and wow, over the years I have learned a lot of things. The job of a naturalist is never done, as mostly what I learn is that the more I know, the more I need to know!
These are snail eggs, although I can’t name the species of snails that made them. Some kind of aquatic snail. I’m sure if I would have looked under the rocks, I could have found the artist, but at the time, I was out kayaking with my dog and husband, and just taking a short break to stretch my legs, so did not stay long.
Isn’t it fun to learn new things about nature? I spent last weekend up at Roan Mountain at their annual spring Naturalist Rally and was on a hike on Saturday with a bunch of other Nature Nerds and overheard one woman say, “There’s nothing we like better than being in the woods and nerding out on things.” I couldn’t agree more! The weekend was a great chance to get outside with knowledgable people and meet others who enjoy nature. Welcome to all of you who met me last weekend! I am glad to have you along. Thanks for joining us!
There are 60,000 species of snails in the world! Did you know snails have the most teeth of any animal? Amazingly, even through their mouths are small, they can pack in 20,000 mini teeth! (These are actually called denticles, and are not exactly teeth like mammals and other vertebrates have since snails are invertebrates. Denticles are tooth-like structures that the snail uses to get food such as algae, off the surface of rocks and other materials.) Most snails feed on algae, but there are others that are carnivores.
What fun things have you learned recently about the natural world?