Snail explosion

[Paul]

I've been wondering about this for a while. When I was a kid, I spent hours and hours looking for bugs, they fascinated me far more than bigger animals. Finding a snail was a pretty rare occurance. I asked my dad who confirmed that when he was younger they were very rare.

Now, you see them absolutely everywhere. In fact, I'd say it is pretty hard not to see some when you go out, if only the dead and crushed shells that are becoming more and more common.

There could be a number of reasons or factors. Warmer winters and the reduction in bird populations in the UK (some species up to 70%).

or is it because the reduction in bird populations has allowed them to spread and reach where we live. In any case, the amount I see nowadays is quite remarkable and I find them in the most unusual places. I am gonna get a picture of that snail graveyard place I told you about. Where there are literally 1000s all stuck on the inside of small outhouse/building thing, and 1000s of empty shells piled up on the bottom. The oddest thing is that there is very little plant-life other than grasses for quite some distance around it. But the birds must have a hard time catching them.

Anyway, what does everyone think, have the populations increased where you live and if so, why do you think that is? Something is going on....

[anjieburdett]

I think you could be right Paul - there is hundreds and hundreds of snails in my garden and even on the way to school in the morning Tommy always finds snails on garden walls and on the pavements too. Someone told me ages ago that songbirds migrating from this country in the winter were returning in vastly smaller numbers because they were being caught in their hundreds in a different country - for food! I didn't believe them at the time, is this true??

Anjie,x.

P.S. I SOOOO wanna see that piccie of the snail graveyard - can't wait!!! I've been wanting to see since the last time you mentioned it.

[Paul]

Right, I'll make a point of getting some shots. The trouble I have is that I share the camera, and with it not having a transformer I have to rely on batteries, which are never charged when I come to use the damn thing. But I will do it, it has to be seen to be believed.

[Arno]

Unfortunatly the story about the songbirds being caught for food is true,in France and Italy they are being shot by the hundreds.But that has been going on for a while.I think the milder winters and maybe the fact that more people are gardening in an organic way has help the populations to get bigger.Having said, that I don't see a snail explosion in my area.There have always been loads around.

[thegreatloofa]

I have also noticed this apparent explosion on snail populations. At my previous house we only had slugs in our garden with the only snails around being a very small variety that lived in the buttercup patch at the bottom of the garden. Then in about 1999 some snails that I now know to be aspersa started appearing behind our plant pots which were then transported in 2001 to our new house (I made sure of this!). There the snail populations increased again (it seamed) although I couldn't tell if this was due to the transported snails or ones already in the area. When we moved again to our current house in 2003 we didn't bring any snails but the first and second summer here I don't remember seeing many snails but this summer their numbers seem to have reached endemic proportions, especially with C.Nemoralis.

Bit of an essay but it shows how I think the snail explosion is a very recent phenomena, like in the past 5 years at least.

I haven't noticed a corresponding increase in slug population though, I fact I think they have fallen in the same period.

[Paul]

So Cepaea are very common near you then?

I wondered if it was confined to aspersa but apparently not. Slugs in my back yard are not even competing anymore and are declining. We used to only get slugs. That's why I wondered about warmer winters, slugs utilise a type of antifreeze don't they and are active throughout a lot of winter so I assumed they could cope with the cold, historically.

[Leah]

I've only ever seen one slug in our garden but there are millions of helix aspersa and a few nemoralis but not many.

[natrat84]

All I see around here is aspersa. No slugs and no other snails (well extremely rarely)

[thegreatloofa]

A (very) quick headcount in our garden comes up with:
26 C.Nemoralis
15 Cornu Aspersum
3 Slugs (not sure of type, but they are all the same)

They would pobably be more but it is pretty cold outside. The ones that are out are so for the rains we're having (I'm a bit damp now!).

[Deleted]

yeah my garden is full of snails. there are loads of helix aspersa, cepaea nemoralis, cepaea hortensis, trichia striolata, oxychilus cellarius, cochlicopa lubrica, cochlicopa lubricella, arion ater, deroceras laeve, and a few other slugs

after it rains they swamp the garden path, which i love.

we also get this alien species called hygromia cinctella. this snail is spreading very fast.

www.scan-online.org/ here is a website about it (click 'projects' and then 'snail search')

Helix aspersa is also spreading north quickly. I think that plant-eating species are probably growing in numbers, many of the smaller species are declining and rare such as the Vertigo genus.

Birds and climate probably are the biggest factors. Hahaha I guess slug pellets aren't really working. I think more snails is a good thing. They're so cute.

kind regards

mike