Snail Season @ IISc

If you haven’t spotted them yet, just look closely at the ground next time you are walking around. You’ll find little brown colored shells lying here and there, that’s a snail resting! Or you might find one slowly coming out of its shell, it looks like it’s struggling.

Or you can find one in its full glory, moving around like this:

They don’t like sun and are most active at nights. You shouldn’t miss them as they are believed to be one of the slowest creatures on the entire Earth!

Most of us are not aware or interested in this little species, commonly known as garden snails. But they are beautiful! Mostly herbivore, eating leaves, fresh grass, cucumber etc., these tiny beings are very delicate and resort to their shells if they sense danger. Their average lifespan is about 5 years and among others, humans stepping on them is a great threat to their lives.

You can keep them as pets, but make sure not to feed them either salt or sugar as snails can’t process these and will die if they consume it.

Check out how to feed them and some interesting facts here, here and here.

Be gentle! 🙂

EDIT:

A beautiful picture taken by a friend, Aashish.