Post by apple on Oct 2, 2021 11:20:52 GMT
I found many snails on a field, in Carcavelos (close to Lisbon) that will turn on a large private condominium and rescued several of them.
The exact place where the snails occur will be destroyed to build houses and the top soil will be removed.
After the occurrence of some showers, all were already released on a nearby forest and grassland where they also occur.
Sometimes I also rescue wild caught snails from the food market, but I can only release the ones that were caugght on the wild here in my country (and Cepaea nemoralis for example, can be only released in certain areas, where they occur naturally and here on this region, this species appear almost restricted to a river margin, but further North and West, where the climate is wetter, it seems way more widespread).
Still, tons of wild caught snails here are eaten every year and there isn´t much control on how much you can harvest.
The sellers tell me that if I don´t buy them, the snails will either get sold for restaurants or will just die before get eaten, anyway. I already saw nets filled with snails that weren´t sold and the snails were just left to die.
In order to be eaten, all snails have to be boiled alive, and that´s not cool to imagine.
These pictures are from a 2020 rescue:
2021 rescue done in the same area:
Aestivating snails found in the area:
This stone was lifted:
Aestivating snails after a long period of drought, lose a lot of water and may get extraordinarily thin and small.
For some reason, there are lot of snails on these fields, although during the summer, it´s usually very dry.
Whenever it gets wet enough, they seem to appear from everywhere and you can listen to them eating and moving on the vegetation, since there are so many, concentrated on the same place.
Apparently, here during the summer, snails avoid exposed areas to the sun and stay where the temperature extremes aren´t so pronounced.
Large stones and stumps, next to the soil surface, may provide an excellent refugium.
After some days of humid weather the snails build up reserves and get normal again.
Since I have gathered quite a good amount of aestivating snails on the same enclosure I noticed one amazing thing: how all the snails together create a microclimate, incredibly fresh and much cooler than the surroundings.
I wish more actions like this are done here and everywhere (by me or someone else).
The exact place where the snails occur will be destroyed to build houses and the top soil will be removed.
After the occurrence of some showers, all were already released on a nearby forest and grassland where they also occur.
Sometimes I also rescue wild caught snails from the food market, but I can only release the ones that were caugght on the wild here in my country (and Cepaea nemoralis for example, can be only released in certain areas, where they occur naturally and here on this region, this species appear almost restricted to a river margin, but further North and West, where the climate is wetter, it seems way more widespread).
Still, tons of wild caught snails here are eaten every year and there isn´t much control on how much you can harvest.
The sellers tell me that if I don´t buy them, the snails will either get sold for restaurants or will just die before get eaten, anyway. I already saw nets filled with snails that weren´t sold and the snails were just left to die.
In order to be eaten, all snails have to be boiled alive, and that´s not cool to imagine.
These pictures are from a 2020 rescue:
2021 rescue done in the same area:
Aestivating snails found in the area:
This stone was lifted:
Aestivating snails after a long period of drought, lose a lot of water and may get extraordinarily thin and small.
For some reason, there are lot of snails on these fields, although during the summer, it´s usually very dry.
Whenever it gets wet enough, they seem to appear from everywhere and you can listen to them eating and moving on the vegetation, since there are so many, concentrated on the same place.
Apparently, here during the summer, snails avoid exposed areas to the sun and stay where the temperature extremes aren´t so pronounced.
Large stones and stumps, next to the soil surface, may provide an excellent refugium.
After some days of humid weather the snails build up reserves and get normal again.
Since I have gathered quite a good amount of aestivating snails on the same enclosure I noticed one amazing thing: how all the snails together create a microclimate, incredibly fresh and much cooler than the surroundings.
I wish more actions like this are done here and everywhere (by me or someone else).
