Snail Rescue?

[Mousie]

I have to move a huge roll of plastic (house move) that has been sitting there for four years, and every year hundreds of snails of all different sizes, but mostly huge ones, hibernate on it.

I can't leave it as will just get junked, and there isn't anywhere safe like under something to move them to as the garden is being 'developed'.

Should I try and put them all in a hedge - or will they continue to hibernate even after I have moved them?

Should I collect them up - pack them in a few containers and move them with me and then release them come Spring?

I know they are only snails, but I like snails and don't want to be responsible for the death of hundreds.

[posie]

Oh do pack them up and take them with you Mousie,that's if you can't find somewhere safe local to where you are now.I love snails too, you could bring them here if you were close enough, got plenty of room here..Posie.

[Mousie]

Hi posie, Will they be OK if I detach them from the plastic and put them in tupperware boxes - can I put them all on top of each other?Iknow I should keep them cold or they will wake up.

Heaven knows what the removal men will say!!!

[Moonmoth]

HaHa You remind me of myself! as a child I was always in trouble with my mother for saving snails and I still drive people mad and not just re snails and slugs No bugs = No birds No Newts No frogs or Hedgehogs etc

[Mousie]

Well I had seriously underestimated the scale of the task, talk about " I've started, so I'll finish!!"

It was rather an interesting 'survey' too, they were nearly all either very big, and striped, or very small and plain.

Can some mollusc expert explain why? Do all the middle size ones get eaten more by birds?? Why are all the big ones stripey - I am assuming they are hatched with their stripes and don't get them later like Dalmatians and spots?? Or are they different species?

[pressld2]

Give us some pictures Mousie! From your description it sounds like you probably have two different species, but pics might help to confirm or refute that...

Whatever - good on you for looking out for them!

Dave P.

[Jason Green]

Evening Mousie,

Originally Posted by pressld2

Whatever - good on you for looking out for them!

I agree - it always needs us to look out for these sometimes less-popular garden species! Still, I must just ask if you know of any vulnerable species in the area in which you plan on releasing them, or within snail-reach of a nature reserve with a specific remit to any vulnerable flora/fauna? If there are, I'd suggest releasing them elsewhere in case they upset any mini eco-system with the introduction of a high-number of these.

As Dave says, photographs would be great - they sound like a few different species. Indeed, some may require the sort of habitat they are currently in, and if so I suggest the hedge idea as a good one - I take it the hedge is local to where you are now, the same garden? We'd need photos in order to identify the species before we could say either way.

As for storing/releasing them in the Spring, they are often active even in the slightly milder periods of winter, so I don't think they need retaining for that period for that reason. The hedge one is a good idea, and the shell will protect them from the cold.

If you put them in a Tupperware box (I wonder if the removal wo/men will think they're for cooking? ), a couple of small holes would be needed - though I'm sure you've thought of that!

As I said at the start of this post, I agree with your sentiments! Good luck with the move

Take care,

Jason

[Mousie]

Hmmm, photos, will have to borrow neighbours camera and prob computer too! Everything of mine is packed up!
Reading up on them it said if they woke up, and hence moved the lid they make while hibernating, they couldn't make another one while the weather is cold as they wouldn't be able to eat enough. So I tried very hard not to wake them up, the big ones were much easier to detach without damaging their lids, and they mostly stayed asleep! I have been feeding the little ones on cooked spinach, as it is still well below freezing here at nights.
There were several other interesting things wintering in the plastic too - even a slowworm!