"Because tree snails are found in the Everglades and on the
Florida Keys. The map will show you how the Everglades spread over
southeastern Florida from the east coast to Cape Sable on the southern
shore. It also shows the Florida Keys, which, like tiny green islands set
in a blue-green ocean, form a chain from the southern tip of the mainland
to Key West.
"The Everglades and Keys are partly covered with a thick tropical
jungle which is very had to travel through. In fact you should have a
guide or you might lose your way."
"Do those trees grow in swamps?" Peggy Ann asked, pointing to
a clump of trees far off the road.
"No dear, they are growing on the higher lands or elevations which
are called hammocks. These hammocks are also found in the Everglades
and on them grow hardwood trees such as mahogany, mastic and many
others. It is on these hardwood trees that the Florida tree snails live."
"How did the snails get on the trees?"
"That, Peggy Ann, has been asked by many people who are very
curious to know how the pretty tree snails happen to live in south
Florida. Some people believe that long ago a coral bridge connected
Florida with Cuba. But that after thousands and thousands of years of
winds and waves and hurricanes beating against the shores almost all of
this was washed away, leaving only the small islands known as the