Bob makes a pretty good point.  Some of the Conus species
seem to actually be more likely to fire a harpoon at random
when they are OUT of the water.  Conus geographus will do
this (I watched one fire a harpoon into hot pavement when it
was emptied out of a collecting bag, crawled a little distance,
and fired another one, and obviously not trying to harpoon any
dinner).  Conus striatus are dangerous after they've been jostled
a while in a collecting container, and the longer they've been
captured the more active and agitated they become.  Don't
stick your hand down in a container to pull them out.  I have
never seen a C. striatus extend the proboscis while it was be-
ing collected, though (C. tulipa and C. geographus will, and
so will C. textile, C. canonicus, and C. omaria on occasion).
They aren't fast like rattlesnakes, but you have to watch what
the animal is doing while you are maneuvering it to your bag.
Nearly everyone that gets envenomated is doing something
foolish, like letting the cone crawl across some body part,
out of the water, or has stuck it in the sleeve of a wet suit or
in a pocket.  It only requires paying a little attention to what
you are doing to keep yourself safe.

Good luck on the Pacific trip,



Don
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bob Dayle" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, May 23, 2005 9:09 PM
Subject: Re: Cone shell rumors


> An added note or two:
>
> I found the previously linked item to be in accordance with the
> experiences that
> I with the cone shells of Hawaii.
>
> Not only, as Kay mentioned, can the Textile Cone reach beyond the spire of
> its
> shell with its probiscis, it can do it out of the water as well!
>
> Bob Dayle
>

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