Watch out for the snails

One thing that our increasingly wet weather has produced is a lot of snails. They are everywhere…outside, that is. I don’t think that I have ever seen so many here?

If I am walking around outside I have to watch where I am putting my feet, especially at night when they are most active. There is nothing worse than that crunch as I step one, sadly ending another life.

Even during the day time, when they sleep, I have to be on the look out. Some are very visible in where they park themselves for the night - at the bottom of a wall, in the middle of the lawn, in the middle of a piece of concrete. Others prefer a more private dwelling for the night and can bury themselves under the grass. I either have to be very alert to where the snails might be, or I find them with another crunch. Hearing that sounds rips into me.

The snails come in all sizes. These snails though are definitely the largest snails that I have ever seen anywhere. There are plenty of babies around - these youngsters being of a similar size to adult snails as I was use to them back in the UK. There are also plenty of medium sized snails around, still big, but really just medium size by local comparisons.

A couple of days ago I saw the largest snail that I have ever seen. That snail was looking for a home for the night and eventually settled under a large plant, out of view. Before it did though, while making its way up a wall, I grabbed a photograph of it with my hand beside it for comparison. That was the largest snail that I have ever seen here.