WHAT SOME "LAKE FOLKS" DO ON A SUNNY SATURDAY...

For the past number of years, a group of neighbors, who live at or are summer visitors to Square Pond, in Acton and Shapleigh, gather every Saturday morning and prepare to dive at the lake!  Whether surface divers or scuba divers, these very dedicated people are doing their best to rid the lake of a very invasive species - the Chinese Mystery Snail.

The Chinese Mystery Snail (often called a black snail) is native to Asia and was originally imported throughout the world within the aquarium trade.  Unfortunately, like so many other "pets", these snails ended up in fresh water lakes, ponds, rivers and streams in the United States.  About 1892, these snails were also exported from China as a food source, first to California and then spreading throughout the country.  In recent years, many of Maine's lakes have experienced a huge influx of these creatures.  They are referred to as Mystery Snails, because the females give birth to young, fully-developed snails which suddenly appear.

The SQUARE POND SNAIL SNATCHERS have worked diligently to dive below the surface of the lake and grab handful after handful of these snails.  This past Saturday, July 9th, the group set a couple of new records: 1) some 40 volunteers showed up to dive, monitor, serve as surface support and to collect buckets of snails - with 14 divers, 6 snorkelers and 6 surface breathers; 2) a grand total of 561 POUNDS of snails were harvested from the lake, and that number surpasses the previous record of 325 pounds for a single day of harvesting!

So, if you find you have a few hours on Saturday mornings during the Summer, and would like to make some new friends and participate in a very necessary project, please contact Rob Caron at 926 West Shore Drive in Acton and arrange to join the SNAIL SNATCHERS!

For those who are enjoying an excursion around Square Pond on a Saturday morning and encounter a dive flag floating on the surface, STEER CLEAR for the protection of divers, who are doing the lake a great service and who are swimming just beneath the surface!