Sea shells in the middle of no where in the woods

[SpencerVT]

Twice now I have found small sea shells while bushwhacking in Vermont off trail in the middle of no where.
Does anyone have a theory as to how these could have gotten there? Do birds sometimes carry them long distances? Has anyone ever encountered this before?
Are one of you trying to mess with me and are doing these hikes in advance and then dropping seashells to mess with me? Haha LOL! Any insights would be appreciated because i’ve now found two and it makes no sense.

 

[JoshandBaron]

Twice now I have found small sea shells while bushwhacking in Vermont off trail in the middle of no where.
Does anyone have a theory as to how these could have gotten there? Do birds sometimes carry them long distances? Has anyone ever encountered this before?
Are one of you trying to mess with me and are doing these hikes in advance and then dropping seashells to mess with me? Haha LOL! Any insights would be appreciated because i’ve now found two and it makes no sense.

Freshwater mussels?

 

[skiguy]

https://northernwoodlands.org/outside_story/article/signs_of_old_beaches_atop_mountains

 

[dug]

Very interesting. Seems difficult to grasp, but the only plausible thing I can think of (short of hijinks) are birds hauling them (fresh water mussels as mentioned) and dropping them. Once airborne the wind COULD take them fairly far...maybe? The wind can take a light object pretty far so seems plausible.

Side, unrelated note: I found a seashell fossil in Moosehead Lake once upon a time.

 

[NHClimber]

Yup, birds bring them.

 

[peakbagger]

Some sort of snail shell?.

 

[maineguy]

https://northernwoodlands.org/outside_story/article/signs_of_old_beaches_atop_mountains

Exactly!!!

https://www.amazon.com/Seashell-Mountaintop-Sainthood-Humble-Discovered/dp/B003156EBA

 

[Periwinkle]

I've left some around, but never in plain sight. Mine look like my avatar, some more grey than purple, usually about a quarter to a half inch in size.

 

[--M.]

The swallow may fly south with the sun, or the house martin or the plover seek warmer hot lands in winter, yet these are not strangers to our land.

 

[dug]

The swallow may fly south with the sun, or the house martin or the plover seek warmer hot lands in winter, yet these are not strangers to our land.

Are you suggesting sea shells migrate?

 

[nartreb]

Where in Vermont? What size and shape of shell? Did it seem to have been there long? Are you confident there were no others nearby?

I can't think of an explanation for a single, intact shell that makes much sense.

It's not a fossil (I did some fun diving into Vermont geology - there's more sedimentary rock than I expected, but it's Cambrian, you wouldn't mistake any of those fossils for something a bird just dropped).

It might be a terrestrial snail, or a freshwater mollusc carried to where you found it by a bird (or racoon or...?) But why just one at a time? Wouldn't you expect it to be broken/gnawed? And, well, I've never seen one, at least not at any distance from water.

I don't think it's part of a salt lick or other man-made attempt to boost calcium - no way you'd find one perfect shell by itself.

That leaves humans leaving souvenirs behind.

 

[Hillwalker]

Oh Oh, Monty Python and the Holy Grail just flooded into my brain. Please make it stop.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Aw7SnQmmls

 

[--M.]

Sorry, sorry!