Snail Eater

A limpkin searches through the brush beside the boardwalk in tampa, Florida's Lettuce Lake Parki.... more

by Norman Johnson

Title

Snail Eater

Artist

Norman Johnson

Medium

Photograph - Photography

Description

A limpkin searches through the brush beside the boardwalk in tampa, Florida's Lettuce Lake Parki.

You will find limpkins (aramus guarauna) in warm freshwater marshes and swamps, often with tall reeds, as well as mangroves, in warm parts of the Americas from Florida in the United States, southern Mexico, the Caribbean. Central America, northwestern South America and South America east of the Andes mountains south to northern Argentina. In the Caribbean it also inhabits dry brush land. Essentially you will find limpkins where you find apple snails.

They are strong fliers on long, broad, rounded wings with their necks forward and their legs and feet trailing. They have a short tail and long toes that help them walk on floating vegetation when looking for apple snails and help make them good swimmers.​

Apple snails make up usually more than seventy percent of a limpkins diet. They also eat other mollusks, insects, frogs, lizards, crustaceans and worms. Locate apple snails by finding their pink eggs on cypress knees or plant stalks above the water, or finding the empty shells left by limpkins and you know that limpkins will be near.

Uploaded

January 19th, 2020