I was all smiles when I saw these tiny snails in branches of a wild chicory while walking Lily. I said to myself I have to cut the branch and bring them home so I could take proper photos.. You see, my hands always shake when I take pictures and I always need a tripod and a shutter cable so that my pictures are at least clear. With just a small vibrations my images become blurred. I´ll probably won´t be able to take photos with free hands especially when I´m out taking my shots, I need to bring along the tripod and that is a bit tedious!
They are so tiny and must have been a week old and they were clinging to the branches tightly. I had to be careful that no shell falls off. Back home I´ve had the branches in a small ceramic jug that you see here.... on that very moment, I was sure they wouldn´t fall off. Any shell falling off I thought, could be gathered again since the table is wide enough and I could easily see them because of their pale beige color on the black painted table.
They are cuter than slugs, and I would rather prefer them in the garden. Although they could also ruin flowers, they are not as aggressive as the slugs. Slugs could devastate the whole plant overnight.
As I have mentioned in my other blog the word snail is the common name for a mollusc or they are gastropods that have coiled shells. They seemed to be diversified as there are snails that can be found in land, seas, desert and fresh water, in short they can be found in many environments.
There are various kinds of snail, some can be eaten as delicatessen particularly those that have bigger shells. Although I do not eat them, I have gathered them as a kid from rice fields near our home especially after the rain. It was sort of a fun thing to do as a kid. The variety I have gathered is dark brown to almost black and its shells were a bit elongated.
I am fond of taking photos of these small snails and I always wait for them to come out from hiding to get a full picture of how their antennas look like. I think their antennas are sort of radar to hear whether everything is ok in the outside world and is safe for them to go out their shell. Btw, after taking these images, I brought the branches with the snails to the green pathway of the wheat field fronting our home.
Happy weekend Steemians!
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