Carole,
I'm not familiar with the fellow's name.  The only thing that comes to
mind, and it's a stretch, is that they were after some of those introduced
apple snails down there for the aquarium trade.  Our thoughts should be
with the man's family.....

Hugs,
Kurt


At 03:39 PM 7/4/00 EDT, you wrote:
>Dear all,
> I just read a disturbing piece in our Palm Beach Post. It states that," a 49
>year old man died on a snail-gathering expedition west of Boynton Beach, Fl.
>early Saturday morning.
>  According to the sheriff's department, Ricky Reddick of Gibsonton, near
>Tampa, was looking for a rare type of snail with his business partner,
>exploring shallow canals off U.S. 441, north of Boynton Beach Blvd. Reddick
>and his partner, Kenneth Peterman, separated. When Peterman returned around
>2:30 a.m., he found Reddick face-down in about 18 inches of water. The cause
>of death was unknown, but sheriff's detective said it may have been a heart
>attack."
>
>  My question, does anyone know this man? What type of snails could he have
>been hunting for. I am not aware of any RARE fresh water snails in this area.
>  Unfortunately the newspaper did not follow through with this article and it
>leaves me curious for more information.
>  I am still suffering from my lack of a COA contact this year. Wish I could
>have been there. It has been quite a few years since I have missed one and I
>will probably feel like the whole year has something missing to it.
>  I understand the Houston group did a bang up job. Congratulations to you
>all.
>                         Carole Marshall
>                          Lake Worth, Fl.
>