Snail

Snails are a nuisance pest indoors, but outside they can cause considerable damage to flowers, garden plants, etc. Various species are distributed throughout the United States.

Recognition

Adults with shell are about 1/8-2 inches in diameter. Body soft, sluglike, lacks segmentation, jointed appendages, exoskeleton, and a backbone; with one pair of conspicuous upper tentacles usually bearing eyes near their tip and one pair of short tentacles beneath on the head end; foot with mucus glands; and a hard, calcareous, twisted increasing spiral, shell present. Color various, usually dull brown or gray, sometimes with darker markings, some species brightly colored and conspicuous.

Habits

Snails typically spend the daytime in sheltered, moist places such as under decaying boards, landscape timbers, logs, and stones, under boardwalks and low decks, in damp refuse and litter, under low-lying and dense vegetation, in damp crawlspaces and basements, etc. Ivy beds are a favorite refuge. Occasionally, they can be seen during the day firmly attached to walls, tree trunks, fences, and/or their food plant, especially in shaded, moist areas.

Snails need a source of calcium for shell production, so they usually are found on limestone or on sills derived for limestone. They can live in areas of calcium poor soil if there are plants present with concentrated calcium. This need for calcium can cause them to feed on painted surfaces.

A drop in temperature and rise in relative humidity usually cause snails to become more active. Under adverse conditions, snails can withdraw into their shells and seal the opening with a mucus plug, which dries to become leathery, or with an operculum (moveable plate). They can survive this way for up to 4 years, and revive when conditions are once again favorable.

Where they go, snails leave a slime trail that may remain visible for days. Their trails avoid dry or dusty areas and sharp objects. Many species often will follow the same trail day after day. When accidentally crushed underfoot, they result in an unsightly and odorous mess, which some people find very stressful.