OLYMPIA, Wash. - They're called the New Zealand Mud Snails and they are no bigger than a grain of rice. But the small species is threatening to take over a popular lake in Western Washington.
The snails first showed up in Olympia'sCapitol Lake in 2009. Since then, they have taken over by the thousands.
About 90percentof the snails are female and they clone themselves. At one time there were about 20,000 snails for every square foot here at the lake, said Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife agent Allen Pleus.
The snails have since diminished, thanks to a freeze in December, but they are still a problem, and now theDept of Fish and Wildlifewill try something new in an effort to get rid of them.
The lake is unique in that it has access to fresh and salt water, said Pleus. We will now drain out the fresh water and back flush the salt water into the basin.
The salt water will go in on Tuesday. The tiny snails can not survive in salt water for long. The wildlife agents are marking spots where there are obvious infestations. The salt water will remain in the lake for about two days, then the processwill be reversed, bringing back the fresh water. At that time, the agents will go back to the marked sites to see if they were able to kill the snails.
During the process, beach access along the lake will be closed to the public. The fear is that the tiny snails can be transported by shoes or animal paws into other bodies of water.
If we can eliminate even 50 percentit will be a success, said Pleus.
