The Big Cypress National Preserve will conduct a huge controlled burn to preserve a type of snail.
The snails are tree snails that live in what’s called a tropical hardwood hammock, which is essentially a cluster of trees with a thick canopy.
The snails tend to stay in the hammocks like little islands. On these islands, the snails have developed more than 50 shell varieties.
Spokesperson Bob DeGross said the Big Cypress National Preserve plans to burn about 24,000 acres of land so the snails don’t start mixing with each other.
“The snails basically have over time, evolved and adapted with specific shell patterns,” he said. “Some of them are all white, some of them are white with a little yellow in them, and some of them have different banding patterns and things like that… each little island has its own variety found on them.”
DeGross said the burn will maintain a prairie type of habitat between the hammocks.
He said the snails are not common in the United States. They really can only be found in the southern tip of Florida. He said some of the shell varieties have protections.
The preserve hopes to conduct the burn before the end of February.
