A mystery solved

For some time now, I have been wondering about the mussel shells that I find all the time under the trees, sometimes quite far from the water (but mostly under pines). The bivalve in question is the Ribbed Mussel which grows in the peat that accumulates in the more open areas of the marsh and often juts out into the shore, particularly where beach sand is washed away. When I was young, we used to have clambakes on the shore and toss these mussels into the mix; being a little muddy, they were perhaps not quite as tasty as the classic Blue Mussel but they were perfectly good. Subsequently I read, in some guide to 'life at the shore', that Ribbed Mussels were inedible but, fortunately, we didn't know that at the time and happily wolfed them down along with the half-baked potatoes, clams and crabs and, on occasion, lobster as well.

Obviously, we are not the only creatures who regard these shellfish as edible but who exactly is it that has been sharing our culinary tastes -- and leaving the evidence in the form of mussel shells scattered around the edge of the woods? Gulls dropping their prey from on high into the trees? That's what I first thought -- gulls feed on clams, crabs and, occasionally, mussels, on a local dock that juts out into the creek. But delivering mussel shells inside the woods is not a very likely gull strategy. My next idea was that Raccoons were responsible; they certainly forage at the shore and undoubtedly eat mussels. But do they actually haul them back to the woods?

This morning I heard a rapping, tapping sound coming from above my head. An American Crow, sitting on a branch of a pine tree, was holding down one of these bivalves, hacking it open, and stripping out the meat. Of course the shell dropper is the crow! I often see these birds dropping down to or up from the shore. Crows are smart. They have learned how to dig out these mussels from the mud banks and take them to a heavy pine branch where they can hack them open. Afterwards, of course, the shells come to litter the ground underneath. A mystery solved!

Eric Salzman