Gary the Snail

This is our friend Gary the snail. We found him a few weeks ago on a lily in our side garden. He was pretty shy at first, but eventually his curiosity overcame him. Slowly his little eye stalks and feelers peeked out from under the shell and he slimed his way across a leaf as we observed. He was very fascinating. We read about garden snails in The Handbook of Nature Study and Chase drew and labeled a picture of him in his nature journal.


Chase and I built a 'snailery' in a large jar using some soil, moss, and a small dish of water. We placed a piece of plum inside for dinner and slid Gary into his temporary home. For a couple of days, Gary would move from place to place in his snailery and we would sometimes catch him eating his fruit (see picture below). The author of The Handbook of Nature Study calls him "a hopeless slobberer".


By the third day, Gary tired of his strange home and stubbornly refused to come out of his shell. He built a small pane of mucus around himself and determined to hold out for better times. After two days of this behavior, I placed him gingerly on the front porch rail and dumped a cup of water on him. He slowly emerged from his shell and looked around. Later that night he slimed away.