Snails

peasant

...not necessarily "pets" in most households , but in ours some are very insisting !

Or house is surrounded by grassy areas (we have no big patio or fancy driveways that might act as a barrier) and we have literally hundreds of snails climbing up the walls and attaching themselves into all sorts of nooks and crannies.

Some even climb in through open windows and become house guests.
(to be ejected rather swiftly after discovery)

These snails just sit there, nothing happening for months.

This is taking place all year round, so it couldn't just be a hibernation thing.

Anyone know why they're doing this?

Are they growing a bigger shell / mutating / gestating ? What's the story?

michelleans

You reminded me of last week. It was raining really bad *(as usual)* and beside the road where I was walking there must have been over 100 snails brought out by the rain. I picked every single one up (for fear of them being stepped on) and put them into the back of the grass...

They always come out in masses when it's been raining lots, hows your weather? Other than that, I have no idea...

Alun

They do tend to crawl about all kinds of unusual places like over walls and windows when it rains.

At this time of the year, the behaviour you're noticing of them crawling into safe little nooks and crannies, protected from the weather is definitely hibernation. If you prise one of these off the wall or wherever they're hiding, you'll notice a semi-transparent membrane covering the entrance to their shell. This is a sure sign they're hibernating and is designed to seal their shells and prevent them drying out.

During the summer months they'll also take temporary shelter for example under window sills, or on the undersides of leafy plants during the daytime, again to stop themselves drying out. They'll come out again later on in the day when it cools down a bit.

If there's an extended period of warm weather then they'll sometimes 'estivate', which is basically the summer equivalent of 'hibernate'. They shut themselves down in much the same way as when they hibernate, except this is due to the lack of water in their environment, rather than due to the cold. They'll develop their little membrane in this case too.

peasant

hmm ..then we must have really extreme weather here ...

There's on fellow in the corner of my bathroom window (outside) that I've been keeping an eye on (for scientific purposes ) he appeared there some time in spring and hasn't budged since.

Also, at some stage during the summer I had to clean an overgrown outside drainpipe (from the roof). It was full of snails. About ten live ones and lots and lots of empty shells ...all sitting in the downpour of rainwater.

What were they doing in there then? Taking a shower?

Weird creatures alltogether ....

Alun

peasant wrote: »

There's on fellow in the corner of my bathroom window (outside) that I've been keeping an eye on (for scientific purposes ) he appeared there some time in spring and hasn't budged since.

Maybe you should prepare yourself for the worst then ... it (not 'he', they're hermaphrodites you know!) could be a goner

Also, at some stage during the summer I had to clean an overgrown outside drainpipe (from the roof). It was full of snails. About ten live ones and lots and lots of empty shells ...all sitting in the downpour of rainwater.
What were they doing in there then? Taking a shower?

Hmmmm, no idea .. maybe since there was a build up of water and possibly rotting leaves there they were just enjoying it, stopping themselves from drying out? They can drown though, so maybe that was where all the empty shells came from.

sillymoo

This is probably silly but I have a phobia of slugs and snails :eek: When my dog at home was a pup she used to take them in from the garden thinking they were balls, drop them at our feet and when my mother used to throw them away, she would chase after them! Anyone hear the myth that snail slime gets rid of warts? Think thats what started my phobia in the first place (thanks mum!)

bullets

We got lots of snails appear every night no matter what the weather.
I am amazed at how far and how fast they travel considering well....they
are snails and slugs. Every morning I wake up they are all over
the dish we leave out the back garden with remains of cat food on it.
They seem to love concrete or my patio as I have checked and they
dont appear on the gravel in our back garden.

~B