A Snail's Place

Lucky snail dropped by a bird - intact

We came across it while inspecting one morning, my granddaughter and I; a forlorn little snail calling from the top of a recently cut stem of spiderwort.  It had apparently dropped from the sky into this alien landscape of tall inedible stalks.  The spiderwort lives in an old bottomless washtub, segregated for its own good.  This way it avoids my manhandling its extra growth, and it can leap upwards as it grows at will.

Anyway poor snail was making a herculean effort to reach another stalk, twisting its long, lithe body at all angles for that one more centimetre.  Little eye stalks popped in and out at the effort like the slide of a trumpet.  It was practically cross-eyed as it tried to focus on its next step.   What fortitude the little fellow had, (although strictly speaking, they are all hermaphrodites).   At great risk of being plucked from his precarious perch by another flying predator, he soldiered on, clutching stalks of spiderwort by stretching on his tippy toe.  His house wiggled back and forth, almost unbalancing him with these acrobatics.

We finally couldn’t stand the tension any longer, and I gently tugged him off, causing his little body to shrivel all the way into his shell, tentacles sucked in.  He was covering his ears and eyes like a little kid who didn’t want to look.  I deposited him on some still-crisp leaves freshly added to the compost.

Gone are the days I committed genocide on snails and slugs.  I now realize they have immense use in my little ecosystem.  As plants finish their lifespan little slugs and snails like my new friend begin their job, clearing the landscape for the next batch of new growth.  Their downfall is their enthusiasm, which inevitably leads to forbidden fruit so to speak.  They are consigned to the compost as I find them, although I suspect I am deporting repeat offenders more often than not.

Don't forget to click on the pictures for a good close up.  They seem to have grumpy mouths too!