As the graph below indicates, there is not much to be said for the Heath Creek site we chose. We found 14 total live individuals, all of the same species Davis found in 1987.

  This site is in the middle of a horse pasture, and the stream banks are highly eroded in a few places where the horses come for water. One hypothesis we have for the low mussel populations at this site is that the continual disturbance of the sediment by the watering horses does not allow for populations of mussels to settle in very well. A second hypothesis for the low populations is based on a personal communication we had with one of the resident farmers; he informed us that in the autumn this stream frequently dries up completely, with only a slight trickle of water going through. The mussel habitat, then, may be suitable only in the spring and summer, when rainfall is frequent. This could also help explain why many of the mussels were tucked deep under the backs; these areas may stay most when the stream dries up.