“…and today we’re talking about something you might have felt bad about stepping on before.”
Did you know there is a vast jungle just outside your door? Though, vastness is relative to size of course. A garden is a big place for a mollusk that’s less than two inches long. The garden snail is a familiar friend that lives in an alien world within the shrubs and flowers. A land snail is no fish out of water. With a unique way to find and preserve moisture, they’re well equipped for Life, Death, and Taxonomy.
Description of the Garden Snail
- Compact and squishy body, mostly covered by a coiled shell
- Brownish-gray skin, with a soft, gooey texture that leaves a slime trail wherever it goes
- Shell is spiraled, usually beige with darker brown patterns
- Two sets of retractable tentacles: the longer set has tiny eyes at the tips, while the shorter pair act as “smell-ticles” for finding food
- A body that can stretch and squish depending on the situation—basically, a snail can shrink into its shell when spooked or extend out when it’s on the go
Measure Up
Welcome to the beloved Measure Up segment. The official listener’s favorite part of the show! The part of the show when we present the animal’s size and dimension in relatable terms through a quiz that’s fun for the whole family. It’s also the part of the show that’s introduced by you when you send in audio of yourself saying, singing, or chittering the words Measure Up into ldtaxonomy at gmail dot com. We don’t have a new Measure Up intro!
Shell Diameter
25–40 millimeters (1–15⁄8 in) in diameter
- 3,048 snails go into the hanging gardens of babylon
- 30,004 snails go into the Gardens of Versailles
- 5 snails go into a Fiskers Spade?
Shell Height
25–35 millimeters (1–13⁄8 in) high
- 436 go into a royal palm tree
- 26 snails go into the height if a Shasta daisy
- 17,304,000 snails go into the width of Hurricane Milton
Fast Facts about the Garden Snail
- Range: Native to the Mediterranean, but now found pretty much everywhere, from gardens to parks, sidewalks, and your grandma’s flower bed.
- Diet: Herbivorous—loves munching on leafy greens, flowers, and fruits. Your garden is basically a buffet.
- Mating: Snails are hermaphrodites, meaning they’ve got both male and female reproductive organs—convenient for those hard-to-find mates.
- Predators: Birds, frogs, and small mammals would love to have them as a snack. Hedgehogs are especially fond of a slimy snail treat.
- Sounds: Silent. Unless you count the faint sound of leaves being eaten very slowly. The real action’s in the slime trail.
- Lifespan: About 5 to 7 years in the wild, longer in captivity if you’re into keeping slow-motion pets.
Major Fact: Silly Sleeper
Snails do sleep, but their sleep patterns are quite different from those of humans and other animals. Here are some key points:
- No Circadian Rhythm: Snails don’t have a circadian rhythm, so their sleep-wake cycles aren’t tied to day and night. Unlike most animals that rely on daylight for activities like hunting or foraging, snails can be active at any time when conditions are favorable. Instead, snails often become active during cooler, more humid periods, which can occur at any time of day or night.
- Intermittent Sleep: Snails don’t sleep for long stretches. Instead, they enter a sleep-like state intermittently, typically every 2-3 days.
- Short Sleep Periods: Their sleep bouts usually last only a few hours, followed by 33-41 hours of activity.
- Relaxed State: When sleeping, snails show a relaxed posture with their foot, mantle, and tentacles at ease, and their radula (tongue) not actively rasping.
- Moisture Retention: Snails sleep to retain moisture and avoid extreme temperatures or dry conditions. They can estivate (summer sleep) or hibernate (winter sleep) for up to three years, depending on the climate.
- Environmental Adaptation: Snails adjust their sleep patterns based on environmental conditions. For instance, they might sleep more during hot or dry periods to conserve moisture.
Ending: So burn the candle at both ends, take a nice long nap, always assume the grass is greener on the other side of the sidewalk no matter the risk like the garden snail here in LDT.