Snail-Induced, Stress and Success
How a conservation biologist came to oversee a population of over 300 snails.
Place yourself in a small room with cream walls, white tables, and piles of black trash bags full of dried leaves… Oh, and what appears to be a giant refrigerator in the corner.
That fridge is actually an incubator housing more than 300 Chittenango ovate amber snails.
Welcome to the snail lab at SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, where conservation biologist Cody Gilbertson works to maintain a species with an estimated 50 members left in the wild.
The story of the critically endangered Chittenango ovate amber snail, a species found only in Chittenango Falls State Park, is well known in New York. As is the success story of the captive breeding program at ESF: that the snails have been maintained in the lab only after Gilbertson was able to determine what they liked to eat, leaf litter at specific stages of decomposition. During her career at ESF, Gilbertson has seen the captive breeding population grow from the very first pair of reproductive snails. This is her story: how she came to work with the chit, her breakthrough moment at ESF, and what she’s learned from working with one of nature’s smallest and rarest creatures.
Growing up in Moravia, New York, Gilbertson pursued a career in music before turning to her other passion in life: animals. She played trumpet and piano in a musical household — her dad, a hobby pianist and violinist, and her mother, a performance music teacher. Gilbertson picked up electric guitar when she was 18, playing in heavy metal bands until she was 24. As a crew member for the reggae band John Brown’s Body, she set up stages, tuned guitars and sold band merchandise.
During the same period, Gilbertson worked at pet stores, eventually deciding to pursue a full-time career with animals. She received her bachelor’s degree in wildlife science at ESF in 2011 and, for the following few years, worked with amphibians, reptiles, fish and birds as a part-time zookeeper at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo in Syracuse, New York. Her first encounter with the chit was in 2010 during a volunteer survey with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at Chittenango Falls. In 2013, ESF hired a new professor with a background in evolutionary biology, Rebecca Rundell, to partner with the Service on a new captive breeding program for the chit, and funding became available through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. The stars aligned for Gilbertson to pursue a master’s degree in conservation biology.
A captive breeding program had already been attempted from 1995 to 2002, failing to keep snails alive long-term in the lab. Working with such a fragile population, Gilbertson did not have many test subjects to learn about the snail’s diet. That is, until she found a juvenile stowaway named Hatch.
While in the lab sorting adult chit snails from a closely related European species found near the falls, Gilbertson came across a stowaway juvenile snail. Mistaking the snail for the European species (Succinea putris), she sorted it with the rest, only realizing the snail was a Chittenango ovate amber snail as it aged and developed more distinctive markings. As a juvenile, young Hatch adapted quickly to the lab and was willing to try a multitude of food sources. Gilbertson collected different types of leaves for it to try, and after closely monitoring its growth, determined that the young snail preferred specific types of leaves decomposed to certain stages.
Gilbertson learned which leaves were preferred by weighing leaf litter before and after feeding. Thin cherry leaves emerged as the clear winner. Without the discovery of Hatch and Gilbertson’s faithful observations, it could have taken much longer to nail down the chit’s diet, risking an already fragile population.
Now ESF’s lead lab technician for Chittenango ovate amber snails, Gilbertson has logged countless hours analyzing the delicate lives of snails. She attributes her motivation for sticking with the chit to “cloud nine moments” such as seeing Hatch successfully mate with another chit brought in from the wild or, Gilbertson said, “seeing with my own two eyes a snail in the lab lay an egg mass for the first time.”
Above all, Gilbertson has loved introducing others to the unique species. “They are truly beautiful,” she said, “and they move so slowly. It’s relaxing to watch.” She admits being extremely attached to Hatch’s offspring, five-year old Hatch Jr. with its long spiral shell and speckled skin, the oldest chit ever recorded.
To Gilbertson, working with Chittenango ovate amber snails is not just for the sake of the snails, it’s about improving captive breeding techniques for all species.
Out of an estimated 470 chit snails (300 at ESF, 120 at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo, and an estimated 50 in the wild), the snails at ESF amount to 64 percent of the entire living population. Maintaining a large percentage of a critically endangered species is a hefty responsibility, the stress extending beyond the hours of a typical work week. Gilbertson admits worrying about the snails 24/7, thinking to herself, “what if one of the incubators fail? What if the lab population contracts a disease?”
In addition to their fragility, these snails are not easy to maintain in captivity. They are still picky about what they eat, preferring leaves of a certain relative humidity and thickness. And there’s always the fear that the snails may develop genetic issues or adapt to lab conditions, making it harder for them to return to the wild, Gilbertson said. “The more I learn about the snails, the more I realize we still don’t know,” she said.
While Gilbertson goes into the lab four to five times a week to check on and feed the snails, she will soon transition to a part-time position at ESF. She hopes to reduce potential burnout after working under the long-term stress of chit conservation for ten years.
Gilbertson said she’s grateful to continue working with the species and for the partners at ESF and the Service. Working with one of nature’s smallest and rarest creatures has been a life changing experience for her. A self-identified introvert, Gilbertson has now led presentations in front of zoo boards, conferences and community organizations.
After stepping away from a career in music and going back to school later in life, she’s stabilized a breeding program for a critically endangered species, contributed notably to the realm of snail conservation, and inspired others to connect with the natural world.
Her words of advice? Cultivate your opportunities and passions, believe in yourself, and be open to what the smaller things in life can teach you.
Ways to Connect with Chittenango ovate amber snails:
- Follow The Snailblazers on Facebook, a local conservation group sharing updates on Chittenango ovate amber snails, including Hatch Jr.’s birthday celebration
- Visit the Rosamond Gifford Zoo to see the Chittenango ovate amber snails sculpture by artist Kate Woodle
- Donate to Friends of the Zoo to support captive rearing initiatives
- Volunteer with Friends of Recreation, Conservation and Environmental Stewardship (FORCES) with NYS Parks to partake in volunteer community snail surveys at Chittenango Falls
