Seashell hunters know the Outer Banks are prime turf after a storm, but a recent visitor to Cape Lookout National Seashore got a rare surprise when the shell’s occupant was still alive — and ticklish.

In 1965, North Carolina named the Scotch Bonnet as its official state shell. North Carolina was the first state to designate an official state shell. At least 13 other states subsequently designated ...

You can see the live snail inside the shell. It’s white, says the National Park Service. The the yellow patch is a hard anatomical structure used like a trap door,. to protect the snail after it pulls ...