Dear Conchers:
OK, one more item.
Kevin Cummings wrote: "Strode also had a dog named Belva that helped him collect
mussels . . . . I had a dog that used to roll in dead mussels for apparent use as
doggie cologne but he never helped collect. "
One dog I had would chew on sea shells, presumed it was the salty taste.  My
otherwise perfect American Eskimo dog will pick up shells if he can reach them and
carry them through the dog door into the yard.  He carried the nicely foliated
muricid Ceratostoma burnetti into the yard, did not harm the shell.  A shelling
relative found the shell in my yard-tried for a while to claim it was a range
extension.  The dog also decided he liked to carry out plastic zip lock bags with
shells and chew the bag.  So in a pinch, I can go shell collecting in my backyard
(beyond our few native Polygyra's and Euglandinas). . .

Alan Gettleman
Attend the Astronaut Trail Shell Show this Weekend; and Come to COA July 7-11.