There are wentletraps in many places on Sanibel other than the lighthouse.
I also am a collector of wentletrap, do not find them everyday, the
conditions must be just right. A good spot for day trippers to wentletrap
is at Gulfside Park, you will find them going both east and west and will
find large and small providing conditions are just right. I also have
"thousands' and have never gone to lighthouse once for them.At 11:25 AM
3/10/98 +0500, you wrote:
>Art, stay out of the bars and keep flying...I for one enjoyed the pigs!!
>I was thrilled to read of the wentletrap book!  I have spent the last four
>years vacation on Sanibel searching in vain for wentletraps.  I fell victim
>to lots of propaganda that they could be found "by the lighthouse"....yeah,
>right!!  Then I heard there was a gentlemen called "Wentletrap Bert" who
>scours the beach on hands and knees with a magnifying glass, finding
>boundless numbers along the high tide mark "by the lighthouse".  Well,
>after four years, I finally gave up and bought one.  And then found out it
>wasn't even the type found on Sanibel (if there truly ARE any on Sanibel).
>I would still like to see an authentic Sanibel wentletrap, if they exist.
>
>>>At 10:29 PM 3/1/98 -0500, you wrote:
>>>>Hey thanks, Mike;-
>>>>    You seem to understand. I go to shell shows. There we talk about
>>>>shells. We buy shells. We unload extras. We learn. But we also talk
>>>>about our kids, pretty ladies, good places to eat, tomorrow's weather,
>>>> and a host of other stuff just like real people. Wev meet here on
>>>>the internet and do the same thing. We talk about shows, trips we've
>>>>been on (I just got back from a handball tournament in San Francisco),
>>>> identity of some shells, and how come Ashley has become the star of
>>>>this particular show.
>>>>   Now some of the people out there in never-land are doctors,
>>>>lawyers, retired cops and other terrible things. Me? I'm a retired
>>>>teacher, coach, and an anal retentive humourist. We do what we do
>>>>best. I stopped "collecting" when I started writing "The Wentletrap
>>>>Book". That's a serious thing to do. It will be a good thing when it
>>>>comes out later this year. But sometimes I have to fly with the pigs.
>>>>It's either that or  go to a local bar and fall in with evil
>>>>companions. What do you suggest?
>                Art
>
>