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Interactions

As far as snail to human interactions, gardeners and malacologists might be the only few humans that truly have an interaction with the flamed tigersnail; when it is being studied, or cursed for ruining a good garden.  White-tailed deer,  moose, sheep, goats, llamas, alpacas, are involved in a devastating interaction with the flamed tigersnail. 

Anguispira alternata serve as an intermediate host of the Parelaphostrongylus tenuis parasite.  This parasite grows in the white tailed deer for the first stage of its life cycle.  The parasite is then expelled in the deer feces where it is transferred to the Anguispira alternata, which is thought to be attracted to the feces (Bird and Garvon, 2005).  P. tenuis finishes it's second and third development stage in the Anguispira alternata.  When feeding on grass, some ungulates in the forest habitat accidentally ingest a snail or two.  P. tenuis then burrow through the ungulate stomach until it reaches the spine where they climb to the brain and cause severe damage.  Although it is a scary parasite, humans are not infected by P. tenuis.

P. tenuis has been causing moose sickness since 1912. To learn a little more about this parasite and how it affects moose, visit the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources!