NEW YORK SHELL CLUB NOTES No. 266 November _ 1980 Page 5 
MISSISSIPPI MUSSEL HUNTERS 
Carol Bodine 
Since I live in Indiana, freshwater shelli 
ng is nothin t ° 
Over the years I have accumulated a nice collection of Tndieie ane 
Michigan freshwater species. It was only natural that when I saw 
some of the beautiful molluscs being taken from t 
River, I would want to add some of ai to mye ColNenci eee So 
the first weekend I had free, which Just happened to be the Labor 
Day weekend, I took off for the muddy Mississippi. Fellow shellers 
had given me a general idea of where the "good shelling spots were 
and I took along a Rand-McNally map to help me find them. The for-— 
.... somewhat helpful in my quest, the latter was practically 
useless. 
I maneuvered through the Chicago traffic with little effort and soon 
found myself on the long, boring (but fast!) broad expanse of I-80. 
My destination was Rapid City, Illinois, which I sighted in five 
hours; now to find a shelling site. Many of the landmarks I had 
been given had either changed names or disappeared all together. 
However, the main starting point, the I-80 bridge over the Missis- 
sippi, was still there. It was the only "landmark" that was. I 
stopped under the bridge and did some shelling there. The water was 
very high, but I did get a few nice pairs of Ellipsarea lineolata 
and Truncilla truncata. 
Fortunately for me, the bridge was being repainted and one of the 
workmen, curious as to what I was doing, came over to talk to me. 
When he found out what I wanted, he gave me directions to some very 
productive sites, and indirectly led me to the best freshwater shell- 
ing site I'd ever run across. He also told me that clams were still 
harvested from the river each year and gave me directions to the 
sand bars from which they were taken. Unfortunately, those sand 
bars were in the middle of the river and I didn't have a boat. But 
I was grateful for all the information this stranger passed on to me. 
I got back in my car and started off toward his first suggested site. 
On my way there I went by one very small area beside the river that 
had neither a house nor a NO TRESPASSING sign. To one side of ita 
huge runoff pipe drained into the river. I cautiously picked my way 
through a shaky marshy area to the bank. There I stopped in a state 
of shock. There were clams everywhere! Dozens of mussels ploughed 
their way through the sandy bottom. The sand bar seemed to stretch 
to eternity. The water was very shallow, a foot at the deepest, and 
crystal clear -- so much for the "muddy" Mississippi tale! 
In addition to all that, there were literally hundreds of perfect, 
hinged pairs lying in piles all along the shore and in the marshy 
weeds. Just as my mind registered these facts, my eyes caught a 
movement in the bushes near the road. I focused on the movements 
in time to see a ringed tail disappear into the woods. A raccoon. 
When I looked back to the piles of dead shells I saw the coon 
tracks everywhere in the mud. fhis, then, was the raccoons Seener 
rant, Nature's answer to McDonalds. I wasn't the only one after 
molluscs. 
I gathered up all of the dead clams, many of them so f 
still had moist, tender pieces of the animal in then. 
resh that they 
None of the 
