Creepy little Garys you need to go away.
You crunch under my boot.
You worry my cats.
Your slime has probably permeated my kale leaves. Makes me gag thinking about it. (Green slimeđź¤)
So…I’m thinking of a final solution.
I’m the Hitler in this story. I need my SS. I’m thinking grandwrex could be bribed.
We discussed it. 10¢ per live snail. They tried for 15¢. I held firm.
They suited up. Rubber boots, latex gloves, Ice cream tubs. We waited til the rain stopped. I gave orders "Feet off the plants. Stay completely away from the tomatoes. Look under leafy plants carefully. Don’t steal each other’s snails. No arguing.
I laughed at the latex gloves, flapping around, too big for their little hands. I predict they’ll go first, if the yuck factor can be overcome.
Off they go, into the breech. I hope they return with all the useful body parts and no diseases. (Snails don’t bite, do they?)
I shed a little tear.
Son-of-a-wrek is researching whether we can call garden snails, escargot, thereby securing himself a little windfall.
@Spice_Weasel , we will try and re-home them, we won’t kill them. Unless one the kids accidentally eats one.
And, I seriously hope not. Rat lung parasites sound really unpleasant.
Thanks, Darren.
To think I sent them on the trek. I feel distressed.
The “regular garden snails” of Europe. My biggest local snails aren’t even 1 cm across the shell. Even where you find larger snails in the US I doubt that they are eaten. Snail imports in the US are extremely highly regulated.
The snails which populated our yards when I was a kid (SCal) were the size of those snails crawling over that man’s hands. We did the usual kidstuff of pouring salt on snails, but for the most part we left them alone. Snails are disgusting.
There was the summer evening ritual of going home after playing all day. Naturally, everyone was barefoot. If the dew had already settled on the grass or someone had watered the lawn, you could count on hearing at least once an evening: CRUNCH–SCREAM–wipewipewipe.
It’s been a greenhouse around here lately. Perfect conditions.
The ones we have aren’t quite as big as those in the article.
But we have quantity, for our consolation prize.
One year during our vacation in Saint Martin we hiked through the central rainforest ecosystem to the top of Pic Paradise, the highest point in the island. (It’s not an easy hike. There are memorials along the way, where people died)
It had rained the previous two days. During our descent we saw thousands of snails on the trail. It was impossible to not step on some and when stepped on the trail became slippery as ice. It was crazy. Never experienced the snail migration again.
…