Congratulations to Philippa, Pansyface and Josusa for providing the winning entries for the Collective Noun Competition.
Great idea to have 'Squeeze' and 'Slither'. I just hope I don't get them mixed up, or I'll have Philippa and some ferocious fighting snails after me...
Thank you for rounding up the competition, Philippa.
I only have Internet in town, when I'm in work, so hence my shocking absence - no I wasn't under the influence, if that was what you were all thinking!
I had a nice quiet break at home and didn't step out the front door between Christmas Eve and yesterday, which was great!
I found a couple of minuscule slugs in a bowl of alpines that I brought inside out of the wet this week, if anybody's interested...
Vertigo angustior, the Narrow Mouthed Whorled Snail, is classified on the IUCN Red List as Near Threatened.
It is tiny - the shell measures approximately 1.6 - 2.0 mm in height and 0.9 - 1.05 mm in width.
The majority of the species' range lies within Europe, with isolated records in North Iran.
In the main part of the range, the species is considered to be meeting the thresholds of 30% of population decline over the last 10 years. These declines are likely to become more severe in the future, as in this part of it's range the species mostly inhabits salt-marsh and coastal dunes, within fringing habitats of a gradient of groundwater levels (often marginal strips of vegetation less than 5m wide), and these habitats lie where sea defence construction will take place (especially in regions concerned about climate change and increased frequency of storm-surges at spring tides), and as such further declines in areas with pristine habitats might be expected.
Evidence from Ireland, where a significant 3 year survey (2008-2010) was undertaken on known extant sites, found 1 of the 21 known sites had been totally destroyed. A further 7 sites had decliend to a situation that the snail may already be lost or is likely to be lost in the near future. Site losses were in inalnd wetland habitats.
The snail is particularly vulnerable in Europe at wetland sites, which are difficult to protect, and in coastal sites which may be subject to increasing inundation. The UK sites are currently in good condition, but the future prospects are considered to be potentially poor as the vast majority of the population is found along sea wall defences and in estuarine habitats that are becoming increasingly vulnerable to inundation. Pressure to increase sea level defences with stronger, steeper walls could destroy the populations depending on the older more vulnerable defence bunds.
At a broad level, it appears to be present in a very wide range of habitat categories of maritime dune grassland and maritime or inland wetland (including fen, marsh, salt marsh and flood plain), but the micro-habitat within which it is restricted means that the exact conditions which its presence demands are rare, and a lot of habitat that is “almost correct” is devoid of the snail. Where fixed dunes have the correct habitat conditions, the snail may cover a large area of occupancy. Otherwise, it can be found in an often narrow transition zone between saltmarsh and dune, and in transition zones between grassland and wetland with short herbs, mosses and Iris. In Cumbria, it occurs in moss on limestone pavement. It is normally found on permanently moist but free-draining soils, not subject to prolonged inundation. Vertigo angustior is a groundwater-dependant species.
The main threats to the species are:
Modification of site hydrology
Heavy grazing/ lack of grazing
Supplementary feeding of livestock
Scrub encroachment
Eutrophication
Pesticides
Exposure to leisure activities (especially on coastal sites), e.g. caravan parks and marinas
I wasn't very kind to snails in 2017 and did feel guilty but having kept up with this Thread I feel I should make an effort this year as soon as they make an appearance. There are so many I just don't know what to do with them. Could put them in a bucket and deposit them somewhere discreetly but obviously not a neighbour's plot. But where?? They had devoured so many of my plants and the lupins were their favourites.
If I hadn't left it so late I would have suggested A slipper(y) of snails for my contribution. I am sure you are all aware the correct term is "Escargatoire" but not a patch on the winners.
How do other posters eliminate snails in a kindly way?
You're right Philippa - this is why so many important creatures are under threat - not all of them look very "cute" and so don't get noticed.
And to many of these big business people and Governments, it's only money that looks cute
'New Year Squeezes' - I like that!
My pond snails appear to be doing well too. They live in an ornamental fountain - one of those plastic barrel and pump ones - and I feed them on Tetra Pleco Algae Wafers since there isn't much natural food in there for them.
I know you're teasing, Philippa - if we didn't both have a sense of humour we wouldn't have started the SLS!
A slipper of snails sounds a great idea - I expect we'll run another competition later in the year, so you could always enter it then.
I tend to grow plants less attractive to slugs and snails, after finding that trying to battle against them was a Sisyphean task.
For any 'specialities' that the slugs and snails like, I try and grow them off the floor, either in hanging baskets, pots suspended from brackets, or up on shelves, staging or tables. It doesn't totally stop the damage, but does reduce it considerably.
My Delphiniums for instance, I grow in a huge tall pot with some old copper wire wrapped around.
Any snails that I find near vulnerable plants, I pick up and move into my wildlife patch or into the neighbouring field - of course, they come back again before very long!
Many thanks for your informative reply. I find the snails are very sneaky and devour the plants when I am not there. (Have never seen one in action). It's not until the next day when I go to the allotment I find the damage. Have tried the broken egg shells but that didn't make any difference.
Was thinking of putting a spot of Tippex on the shell ( if that's not unkind) and after disposing of them I would know if they had found their way back! If they had I suppose I should congratulate them!
Don't really have the means for hanging baskets but plenty of pots. At least I do know which plants they are not interested in as they flourished. Quite soul destroying sometimes when you see the damage.
Lovely to hear from you and thanks for your advice. All will be revealed come Spring.
P.S. pbff are the initials of my sisters and me. (One now sadly departed)
SLS supporters might enjoy this story. At a summer fete last year, I organized a competition for children to collect wild flowers in a bag and bring them to be identified. One little girl also picked up a couple of snails. By the time she brought her bag to me, they had found each other and were busy making more snails. "Oh look!"" said the child, "they're kissing!"
Posts
PERHAPS IT COULD BE A SLITHER IN SUMMER AND A SQUEEZE IN WINTER.
SECONDED.
AND YOU TOO, PHILIPPA.
Hi again all,
Hope you had a lovely Christmas.
Congratulations to Philippa, Pansyface and Josusa for providing the winning entries for the Collective Noun Competition.
Great idea to have 'Squeeze' and 'Slither'. I just hope I don't get them mixed up, or I'll have Philippa and some ferocious fighting snails after me...
Thank you for rounding up the competition, Philippa.
I only have Internet in town, when I'm in work, so hence my shocking absence - no I wasn't under the influence, if that was what you were all thinking!
I had a nice quiet break at home and didn't step out the front door between Christmas Eve and yesterday, which was great!
I found a couple of minuscule slugs in a bowl of alpines that I brought inside out of the wet this week, if anybody's interested...
Vertigo angustior, the Narrow Mouthed Whorled Snail, is classified on the IUCN Red List as Near Threatened.
It is tiny - the shell measures approximately 1.6 - 2.0 mm in height and 0.9 - 1.05 mm in width.
The majority of the species' range lies within Europe, with isolated records in North Iran.
In the main part of the range, the species is considered to be meeting the thresholds of 30% of population decline over the last 10 years. These declines are likely to become more severe in the future, as in this part of it's range the species mostly inhabits salt-marsh and coastal dunes, within fringing habitats of a gradient of groundwater levels (often marginal strips of vegetation less than 5m wide), and these habitats lie where sea defence construction will take place (especially in regions concerned about climate change and increased frequency of storm-surges at spring tides), and as such further declines in areas with pristine habitats might be expected.
Evidence from Ireland, where a significant 3 year survey (2008-2010) was undertaken on known extant sites, found 1 of the 21 known sites had been totally destroyed. A further 7 sites had decliend to a situation that the snail may already be lost or is likely to be lost in the near future. Site losses were in inalnd wetland habitats.
The snail is particularly vulnerable in Europe at wetland sites, which are difficult to protect, and in coastal sites which may be subject to increasing inundation. The UK sites are currently in good condition, but the future prospects are considered to be potentially poor as the vast majority of the population is found along sea wall defences and in estuarine habitats that are becoming increasingly vulnerable to inundation. Pressure to increase sea level defences with stronger, steeper walls could destroy the populations depending on the older more vulnerable defence bunds.
At a broad level, it appears to be present in a very wide range of habitat categories of maritime dune grassland and maritime or inland wetland (including fen, marsh, salt marsh and flood plain), but the micro-habitat within which it is restricted means that the exact conditions which its presence demands are rare, and a lot of habitat that is “almost correct” is devoid of the snail. Where fixed dunes have the correct habitat conditions, the snail may cover a large area of occupancy. Otherwise, it can be found in an often narrow transition zone between saltmarsh and dune, and in transition zones between grassland and wetland with short herbs, mosses and Iris. In Cumbria, it occurs in moss on limestone pavement. It is normally found on permanently moist but free-draining soils, not subject to prolonged inundation. Vertigo angustior is a groundwater-dependant species.
The main threats to the species are:
Modification of site hydrology
Heavy grazing/ lack of grazing
Supplementary feeding of livestock
Scrub encroachment
Eutrophication
Pesticides
Exposure to leisure activities (especially on coastal sites), e.g. caravan parks and marinas
Seawall construction and modification
Managed retreat of coastal marshes
Fragmentation of habitat
Artificial planting on open ground
Motorised vehicular damage to habitats
Rise of temperature and extremes
Sea level rise and flooding
Last edited: 03 January 2018 11:48:56
I wasn't very kind to snails in 2017 and did feel guilty but having kept up with this Thread I feel I should make an effort this year as soon as they make an appearance. There are so many I just don't know what to do with them. Could put them in a bucket and deposit them somewhere discreetly but obviously not a neighbour's plot. But where?? They had devoured so many of my plants and the lupins were their favourites.
If I hadn't left it so late I would have suggested A slipper(y) of snails for my contribution. I am sure you are all aware the correct term is "Escargatoire" but not a patch on the winners.
How do other posters eliminate snails in a kindly way?
You're right Philippa - this is why so many important creatures are under threat - not all of them look very "cute" and so don't get noticed.
And to many of these big business people and Governments, it's only money that looks cute
'New Year Squeezes' - I like that!
My pond snails appear to be doing well too. They live in an ornamental fountain - one of those plastic barrel and pump ones - and I feed them on Tetra Pleco Algae Wafers since there isn't much natural food in there for them.
I know you're teasing, Philippa - if we didn't both have a sense of humour we wouldn't have started the SLS!
Fran - glad that you've been enjoying our thread.
A slipper of snails sounds a great idea - I expect we'll run another competition later in the year, so you could always enter it then.
I tend to grow plants less attractive to slugs and snails, after finding that trying to battle against them was a Sisyphean task.
For any 'specialities' that the slugs and snails like, I try and grow them off the floor, either in hanging baskets, pots suspended from brackets, or up on shelves, staging or tables. It doesn't totally stop the damage, but does reduce it considerably.
My Delphiniums for instance, I grow in a huge tall pot with some old copper wire wrapped around.
Any snails that I find near vulnerable plants, I pick up and move into my wildlife patch or into the neighbouring field - of course, they come back again before very long!
pbff
Many thanks for your informative reply. I find the snails are very sneaky and devour the plants when I am not there. (Have never seen one in action). It's not until the next day when I go to the allotment I find the damage. Have tried the broken egg shells but that didn't make any difference.
Was thinking of putting a spot of Tippex on the shell ( if that's not unkind) and after disposing of them I would know if they had found their way back! If they had I suppose I should congratulate them!
Don't really have the means for hanging baskets but plenty of pots. At least I do know which plants they are not interested in as they flourished. Quite soul destroying sometimes when you see the damage.
Lovely to hear from you and thanks for your advice. All will be revealed come Spring.
P.S. pbff are the initials of my sisters and me. (One now sadly departed)
SLS supporters might enjoy this story. At a summer fete last year, I organized a competition for children to collect wild flowers in a bag and bring them to be identified. One little girl also picked up a couple of snails. By the time she brought her bag to me, they had found each other and were busy making more snails. "Oh look!"" said the child, "they're kissing!"