Snails and Slugs

Nature Story

Do you know the difference

between snails and slugs?

Which one is this?

And this?

The only real

difference is obvious!One has a shell and the other does not!

Do you know that slugs and snails can be eaten! But not by us, please!Snails and slugs are in the

same family as clams andoysters, and some people eat

them.

Everyone else in this family lives in water. Slugs

and snails are the only ones that live on land.

If you were inclined to eat them, you would have to be very carefulbecause if your neighbor has put poison in the garden

and the slug or snail eats the poison, you could becomepoisoned by eating the animals!

How fast do you think a snail can move?

The common garden snail is the slowest moving animal!About 0.03 miles an hour! (That’s 3 hundredths of

a mile an hour--really cruisin’--and means his top speed is 158 feet an hour.)

If you traveled at the speed of a snail, it would take you a whole minute to

move 2 and 1/2 feet. And that’s if you felt like moving. A lot of the time, the snail stays

within in his shell.

In fact, some explorers in Egypt found what they thought was

a dead snail. They glued the shell to a card, labeled it, and displayed

it in the British Museum. Several years later the snail

emerged, much to everyone’s surprise and

amazement!

How could that happen?

Snails (and slugs) are very sensitive to

moisture.

During a dry season snails and slugs bury themselves in the soil or other protected spots.

Snails plug up their shell holes to protect themselves from

drying out, and slugs make a cocoon around them.

So the snail at the museum must have curled up inside itself because it was too dry

for him, but once enough moisture reached him at the

museum, he woke up!

Throughout dry spells, the animals remain in a state of

suspended animation in which their body processes slow to a point almost like

death.

Did you know snails and slugs can walk on the sharp edge of a razor

blade and not be hurt? That is because in order for them to walk anywhere they produce a mucous

substance to protect their underbelly when they walk, and

this substance even protects them from being cut by the razor

blade.

And this is the same substance in which the

slugs wrap themselves and with which the snails plug their shell doors during a dry season. It is not until enough moisture is in the

air to dissolve these cocoons and plugs that the snails and slugs awaken!

Aren’t snails and slugs amazing

creatures and isn’t our God wonderful?!

Here is a race for a

snail finish!

Find someone else to ride bikes with, mark a finish line, and see who can be the LAST to cross the line. Touching the

ground with your foot disqualifies you.

Credits: Slides 3, 17 pallaea at flickrSlides 4, 12 begreenlee at flickr

Slides 5, 11 CarlMcCabe Slide 13 WesHardaker

Slide 14 waferboard at flickrSlide 15 AlphaDog

Slides 16, 18 Roberto Verzo at flickr