Post by barnaclesnail on Nov 9, 2011 21:12:49 GMT
Well, this is a bit strange...
Towards the end of August, I took in a few snails from my backyard. Between my dogs picking them off and the next door neighbor (who is an avid gardener) leaving down snail & slug poison, I felt sorry and set up a small terrarium for them.And of course I was not leaving food outside for the other snails so they'd stop eating the neighbor's vegetables, why would you think such a crazy thing?
Anyway, they're all doing well - even the juvenile with the badly cracked shell is healing and growing nicely, though I was having a difficult time identifying them. I originally thought maybe just a darker type of helix pomatia, but the shell was so different from anything I'd seen; a dark background with lighter bands, and they seem to grow quite large for garden snails.
I finally came across a picture of helix lucorum when I was searching for terrestrial species, and apparently that's what we have
There's no mistaking the species, btw, as they are very distinctive. Excepting, we're on the east coast of the United States and the species I have are neither indigenous nor do they seem to have been introduced here - from what I can find, they're a species native to Turkey and not known to exist outside of Western Europe at all. *scratches head* 
I was just curious as to whether this is a localized population or if anyone else in the States has come across helix lucorum in the wild? I have pics of my snail crew, and will post them a little later on (at work now!) Thanks for any insight!
Towards the end of August, I took in a few snails from my backyard. Between my dogs picking them off and the next door neighbor (who is an avid gardener) leaving down snail & slug poison, I felt sorry and set up a small terrarium for them.
Anyway, they're all doing well - even the juvenile with the badly cracked shell is healing and growing nicely, though I was having a difficult time identifying them. I originally thought maybe just a darker type of helix pomatia, but the shell was so different from anything I'd seen; a dark background with lighter bands, and they seem to grow quite large for garden snails.
I finally came across a picture of helix lucorum when I was searching for terrestrial species, and apparently that's what we have
There's no mistaking the species, btw, as they are very distinctive. Excepting, we're on the east coast of the United States and the species I have are neither indigenous nor do they seem to have been introduced here - from what I can find, they're a species native to Turkey and not known to exist outside of Western Europe at all. *scratches head* 
I was just curious as to whether this is a localized population or if anyone else in the States has come across helix lucorum in the wild? I have pics of my snail crew, and will post them a little later on (at work now!) Thanks for any insight!
