#Land snail drivers#

Land snails that are kept in a tank with a lid on will often climb and hang upside down from the lid.

If you watch a snail climbing up a sharp edge, you will see that it can curl its body around the edge, not actually touching it but moving up because its SLIME allows it to cling on to the surface around it.

Land snails can walk up stalks, sticks and walls without getting hurt, all because they are protected by the production of SLIME.

In the FOOT there is something called a GLAND that makes SLIME, a sticky substance that helps the snail to move along.

Sometimes this FOOT is known as a CREEPING FOOT because of the movement of the muscles. When the muscles work – or contract – the FOOT moves and the snail is able to move around.

Inside the FOOT are lots of muscles, just like we have muscles in our bodies.

The bottom of a snail’s body is called a FOOT.

An Apple Snail for example has a yellow shell and an African land snail has different bands of brown, pink and cream. Land snails have many different kinds of coloured shells.It is very unlikely that the two would ever become separated unless a bird or chicken is able to pull the body out using their beaks. Unlike in fairy tales, snails cannot lose the ‘house’ on their back because both body and shell are connected by membranes. A snail has a soft body that is long and slimy. The shell that protects it sits upon its back.These rings are called WHORLS (sounds like ‘ walls’) but are now not thought to demonstrate annual growth. When a snail grows, it was once thought that it could grow a new spiral on its shell every year, just like the ring of a tree.

When a tree has been chopped down, rings inside it tell us how old the tree is.To defend itself, a snail can emit a FROTHY SUBSTANCE which will repel predators such as birds or chickens and hence stop an attack. If a snail is disturbed, it will disappear inside its shell and stay there until it feels safe to come out again.The snail has a shell to protect itself from danger.Snails are shellfish. They belong to a group called MOLLUSCS.I will also present a few ideas for experiments that might help you to understand more about these fascinating snails. You will learn about the different parts of a snail’s body, how land snails move, what they like to eat and what makes them happy or sad. Do not move plants or plant material from areas infested with the snail.There are three different kinds of snails: those that live in freshwater such as lakes and ponds called freshwater snails, sea snails that live in the sea and land snails which is what we are concerned with here.Always wash your hands and produce before consumption.Take a picture with your phone, and note the location.Young snails may live underground for the first two to six months of their lives. They lay their eggs in humid areas with rotting detritus in the top two to six inches of soil. During the day, they roost on the sides of buildings near air-conditioners or hoses, or burrow into loose topsoil. They seek out fruits, vegetables, and pet food that are left outside overnight. They are most active on humid and rainy days, and just after dusk. Giant African snails are currently only found in the greater Miami metropolitan area, and one residential area in Broward County. The snails are also considered a public health threat, as their slime is home to the parasitic rat lungworm (Angiostrongylus sp.) which can cause meningitis.

#Land snail drivers#

In places where the snails do not have enough calcium in the environment to build their shells, they have been known to eat the stucco off houses and the paint off cars! When crossing roads at night, adult snails are a hazard to drivers because their large, hard shells can puncture tires. Starting at about age six months, they lay an average of 100 eggs per month for the next eight to ten years.

They rapidly devour fruits, vegetables, and ornamental plants, wiping out small farms overnight and leaving only foul-smelling excrement in their wake. Giant African snails have a voracious appetite, consuming over 500 different types of plants. Eggs are yellow- to cream-colored, about one quarter inch in diameter. The shell is cone-shaped with distinctive cream- and chocolate-colored stripes running across the whorls. Its shell can reach more than eight inches in length. The giant African snail can grow to be the world’s largest terrestrial mollusk.