Dear Friends and Collectors, In the last 10-15 or so years I've been lazy ONLY in the respect that I have not joined COA ....earlier! But...I just filled out my form and wrote out the check tonight. I wish I had done this years ago !! I rememeber COA sending me literature in the snail mail back in 1994 or 1995....a whole decade ago! So, I have arrived, finally. Better late than never. I hope to get down to Ft. Myers this summer to see a lot of friends I have made thru the years. That of course, all depends on work and if I am too busy I wont be able to go. But, I'm planning it so barring any catastrophe I should be there. For those that do not know me, my name is Lyle Therriault, and I live in Charlotte, NC. I used to live in Kansas for a long while and I am originally from the Boston, MA. area. I am 35 currently and I have collected shells now for 31 years! I started when i was a wee one. Only in the last 8 or so years have I been selling shells on the market, with some of that arising from eBay where I am know as carolinasheller and most of it arising from long time friends and customers who I have on a mailing list. I used to collect all families of shells. I now however do not,,,and I sold all my shells 3 years ago. I did NOT sell my cones tho, that is the one family I do collect to this day and I have over 2,000 specimens. I ran out of room a long time ago when i collected all families. back then I had almost 16,000 specimens! So anyways....I collect cones and I also sell cowries. I have a regular job so naturally the shells come in a distant second... Right now I am selling off my stocks of shells from all families ( apart from cowries) In the process of making lists of all the specimens I have, and I have MANY. Anyone interested in some excellent shells, and some uncommon to rare ones too, and good prices let me know! it is time consuming....I only have about 10 families done so far. but I'm whittling it down so hopefully soon they will all find new homes. I also have a website, but it is under construction, that deals with cowries, cowrie news, a gallery and my cowries for sale. I have right now approx. 400 cowries comprising roughly 225+ species for sale at the moment. All of these will eventually make it;'s way to the website. Thats if for now I guess.....I am looking into making a trip to the Keys maybe sometime this late spring or early summer. My mission? Florida cones and cowries. Hopefully I can do some good collecting. Anyone know of any hot spots? Any ban or limits there on collecting? Rules, regulations, limits? Let me know! Happy shelling!! Sincerely, Lyle Therriault ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [log in to unmask] - a forum for informal discussions on molluscs To leave this list, click on the following web link: http://listserv.uga.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=conch-l&A=1 Type your email address and name in the appropriate box and click leave the list. ----------------------------------------------------------------------