Natalie Downe

Running to catch the train this afternoon, I had a bit of a shock as I almost fell over this whopper! …

Absolutely massive snail! I have truly never seen one this big in England before (The one I saw in the zoo doesn’t count!). The shell was roughly the size of a golf ball with a diameter of about 5.5cm, chestnut coloured brown with subtle darker coloured stripes. Its body was white and about 10 cm long - I gaged it against a stick that I measured when I got home.

Agog by the size and remarkableness of Snaily (original name I thought) I had not walked more than 2 meters when I found another one! this one was larger with a scruffier looking shell and a body about 1 cm longer than Snaily! Unfortunately I didn’t have much more time to stop and take more measurements as I was already late for the train.

Still quite shocked, one by one I discovered another 4, making 6 gigantic snails in all! and I had only walked about 10 meters. The funny thing was they were all heading in the same direction, across the woodland path.

The habitat is a broad-leafed thin woodland with a healthy amount of undergrowth, especially stinging nettles. The path that runs through the trees is covered with loose dark earth and on the other side, a grassy reserve populated sparsly with more broad-leafed trees.

Today the weather was cool and sunny this morning but rained a lot during the day, when I saw Snaily and his friends it was cool and dry again but the ground was still very wet. It rained heavily again this evening.

Cycling home I wondered to myself if at that moment there was anyone else in the world more excited about identifying a snail, I decided there probably wasn’t.

I didn’t know the first thing about identifying snails, and it now seams quite a tricky process! the key document I found, was from the Open University and the BBC who are conducting a national snail survey (which I urge you to have a play with and look at the snails in your area) It explains in understandable terms what bits of a snail set it apart from other snails, the height of the shell spire, whether it is clockwise or anticlockwise etc.

It also has a handy list of 9 or so snails that they want to track throught the British Isles, I know this is not a conclusive list but I have just spent the past four hours investigating species and other resources - I even bought a book - and I cannot find any other snail that remotely matches Snaily’s description with the exception of the Roman Snail.

I may well be wrong, there are differences in body colour but the shell, dimensions and even habitat all fit. The habitat listed for the Roman Snail is a “woodland area mainly on chalk” [source] other articles value the importance of calcium and lime in the habitat - presumably from the chalk - this fits too, the top-soil around here may not be chalk but the water is hard water and is constantly clogging up the kettle with white limescale deposits.

Lack of fossils have led experts to believe that the Roman snail was introduced to Britain, most likely by the Romans as food. Don’t date think about eating Snaily though! as the Roman snail is now very rare protected by law. If you see one of these critters report it to someone (the BBC and open university tell you to, but I’m still trying to find out who) so that adequate conservation methods can be employed to protect them.

The profile infomation at ‘UK Safari‘ details that the Roman snails mate on damp nights when the weather is cool, chances are then, that all six of Snaily and his friends are having their fun now in the wood.