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Treacodactyl Downsizer Moderator
Joined: 28 Oct 2004 Posts: 25795 Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism
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cab
Joined: 01 Nov 2004 Posts: 32429
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judyofthewoods
Joined: 29 Jan 2005 Posts: 804 Location: Pembrokeshire
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Posted: Tue Feb 08, 05 11:24 am Post subject: |
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If you found some live specimen, might be worth breeding them?
I have only tried snails in a restaurant, and thought they were very nice. I think the ones they breed are the Roman type, and probably for their size rather than any other attribute, just lesss fiddly than the little ones. I note you are in Surrey, that is chalk country, isn't it? Read somewhere that snails are more prolific in chalk country, as they have the minerals to build their shells in abundance. They are certainly outnumbered by slugs in this area.
Here an anecdote about a very curious occurance around 1990, it was the night of the snale invasion. One night I walked out with some visitors as they left, and we noticed the ground coverred in the large snails, you could not put your foot down without crushing them, thousands everywhere. Perchance, when I spoke to my mother, who lives in Germany, some weeks later and mentioned it, she said the same happened over there one night. Also, per chance, in both cases there was another incident that made us note the exact date (I keep a diary, and could tell from the day my friends visited, she went somewhere important on that date), and it was the very same date. Now I know that ants take to the wing on the 18th of August, as long as the weather is right, or very shortly thereafter. Does anyone know what natural phenomenon would cause those huge numbers of snails to appear , at least partway across Europe? Does anyone else remember such an occurance? |
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Treacodactyl Downsizer Moderator
Joined: 28 Oct 2004 Posts: 25795 Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism
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deerstalker
Joined: 28 Oct 2004 Posts: 589
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judyofthewoods
Joined: 29 Jan 2005 Posts: 804 Location: Pembrokeshire
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Posted: Sat Feb 12, 05 9:56 pm Post subject: |
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Deerstalker wrote: |
Never stalked or shot one. what's the technique? |
I don't know a lot about shooting, but I would think an air gun would be best for such a small target. The trouble with snails is knowing which bit to shoot to make it instant, I don't think they have a brain as such, besides, you need to be a very good shot to hit their 'head'. As long as you keep down wind (snails have a very good sense of smell) you could probably get close enough to get a good shot. The downside to shooting snails over, say, snaring, is that the ratio of bullet to meat is quite high, but then you would remove it anyway, and you can find the bullet more easily, unlesss it bounced off their rubbery body. You can also hunt with ducks, but you must tie a rope around their neck or they will swallow the quarry. As far as I know ducks are not included in the new hunting bill (no pun intended).
Happy hunting |
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tahir
Joined: 28 Oct 2004 Posts: 45676 Location: Essex
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Marigold123
Joined: 06 Feb 2005 Posts: 224
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Posted: Sun Feb 13, 05 5:34 pm Post subject: |
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judyofthewoods wrote: |
Here an anecdote about a very curious occurance around 1990, it was the night of the snale invasion. One night I walked out with some visitors as they left, and we noticed the ground coverred in the large snails, you could not put your foot down without crushing them, thousands everywhere. |
I can't remember any instances in particular, at least not with dates, but I do know that when the weather has been dry for a long time, with no dew at night, and then the weather turns wet, they do seem to come out in their thousands. Maybe this is the cause of the phenomenon? |
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Pilsbury
Joined: 13 Dec 2004 Posts: 5645 Location: East london/Essex
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nettie
Joined: 02 Dec 2004 Posts: 5888 Location: Suffolk
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Pilsbury
Joined: 13 Dec 2004 Posts: 5645 Location: East london/Essex
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nettie
Joined: 02 Dec 2004 Posts: 5888 Location: Suffolk
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Marigold123
Joined: 06 Feb 2005 Posts: 224
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Posted: Tue Feb 22, 05 7:20 pm Post subject: |
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Someone I met said they collected them in a lidded bucket and tipped them out in the park the next day for the crows to eat. I don't know if the crows ate them, though.
I also heard of someone who put hers down the toilet for some reason, They went down, but the next morning they were all back cuddled up in a ring just under the rim!
I lived in a house with an old outside loo, which we used when we were downstairs in the Summer. The snails used to get in under the door and eat the toilet paper. (It wasn't me in the flushing snails story, honest!!)
About the roman snails, and not eating them if they are rare, I suppose you might be able to collect some and see whether you could breed them in a tank with a gauze lid or something. They could eat up waste vegetation from the garden, and kitchen waste.
You could start with two random individuals, because snails are hermaphrodites and have one of each variety of parts. If you were worried about denting the wild population, you could put the two original ones back after you were certain you had baby snails to grow on, and even liberate a few extra ones for good measure when they'd grown up a bit.
Just a (slightly eccentric) thought. |
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Treacodactyl Downsizer Moderator
Joined: 28 Oct 2004 Posts: 25795 Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism
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sally_in_wales Downsizer Moderator
Joined: 06 Mar 2005 Posts: 20809 Location: sunny wales
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