Chetek Lakes’ Mystery Snail
Coming back to the Chetek chain of lakes was nice; however I did notice a change. No, the water was not any greener, nor was there a lack of Illinois tourists trying to bag the prized bluegill, there was however a drastic change in the fauna of the lakes. My Grandfather and I worked on Prairie Lake for several days this summer straightening out a dock and we encountered a multitude of large snails. You would walk in the shallows or bush your foot across the lake bottom and dislodge dozens of 1-2 inch to nearly the size of golf balls sized snails. At this density there must be millions of these snails infesting the lakes. Fifteen years ago I do not remember any large snails like this being in the lake. I remember the Chetek chain having two very distinct snail species. One was a small elongated spiral, at the most a 1/2 inch long, the other was a curled shell, the shape of a nautilus, also not more than a 1/2 inch in diameter, often much smaller. Where are these two species today? I didn’t find any. I recently found out that this new variety of large snail is an invasive species from Asia and it’s a real-life mystery. Better known as the “Chinese Mystery Snail”, it was imported to the United States as an aquarium cleaner/pet and let go into our lakes by some careless folks. The Mystery snail is not just infesting the Chetek chain of lakes but also other Lakes around the country, including the Great Lakes and their tributaries. I wonder if fishing communities like Chetek have considered the impact of the Mystery snail on the local economy, native species, and the environment? Here is more on the Chinese Mystery snail from the Indiana DNR website : http://www.in.gov/dnr/fishwild/fish/ais/snail.htm
I would advocate not purchasing any plant or animal from pet stores, unless you are sure that they are native to the area where you are from, even then I would not recommend this because of questionable harvesting practices. I would recommend getting your aquarium pets from your local lakes and rivers. Then when you’re done with them put them back where you found them.
Vacation in Michigan and Chetek
We had a nice time in Michigan and Chetek. Here are our pictures from our vacation.