A long time ago I was browsing through an old natural history magazine when I spotted a photo of the insanely cool looking Karamea Bluffs Powelliphanta (snail) shell. Instead of the muted lines most of the species have this shell was covered in bright zebra stripes somewhere between deep red and cream. Since then I’ve always wanted to try and see one in the flesh. It just so happened that this Labour Weekend I was in the area for a birthday party, so I snuck off for a couple of snail hunts.
Of course I don’t mean hunting them to eat them! (interesting fact – they can live for up to 20 years). With a lot of Powelliphanta species its pretty easy to find their shells, but to find one alive and out hunting requires heading back on the right kind of night (warm, wet) and spending a heap of time looking for the subtle shape of its shell (usually dark brown like the leaf litter).
As far as I know Powelliphanta lignaria lignaria has never been photographed outside of its shell before. The closely related Powelliphanta lignaria lusca which lives slightly to the North has however been expertly/stunningly photographed by Rod Morris. This was all the more motivation to spend a few hours in the bush staring at the ground looking for snails!
It turned out the best snail I found was right beside the track. It took a while to come out of its shell and slowly move into a spot where I could get a decent shot but it was worth the wait. I love the crazy journey I took from first finding out about them in an old magazine to actually being out there watching them hunt for earth worms on the forest floor.
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