Giant flesh eating snail

Discussion in 'General chat' started by Fern O., Sep 20, 2007.

  1. Fern O.

    Fern O. Junior Member

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    This morning in the garden I encountered the biggest land snail I've ever seen!
    It was happily frollicking over the swampy area, as it had rained... I picked it up, as I wanted to move it to where it wouldn't get squashed.

    Now, I love snails, and as I was thinking about eating this big juicy snail, it opened it's mouth, showing it's chitinous teeth and proceeded to eat me!! I told it that it wasn't suppose to do that! It didn't have a conical shell, it's shell was the size and shape of a golf ball... it was so big! and it hadn't even reached full maturity yet! I took it over to my green vegies... look! yum! vegies!! but it didn't like them... so I placed it on my hand again and out came the teeth! I left it in the vegie patch...

    Now we do have an indigenous carnivorous black snail down here (Victaphanta atramentaria) which is native to the Otways, but it's black, and not that big... this one's shell looked like the common garden snail (helix aspersa), but it had transparent yellow flesh, a bit like the flesh of Cepaea hortensia (the yellow artic snail) not like the grey flesh of the aspersa. A friend mentioned to me about the giant african flesh eating snail... but that has a conical shell.

    This snail has distracted me no end... I'm suppose to be finishing grafting, potting up plants and tidying up before I go away, not researching and writing about flesh eating snails!

    Any clues anyone?

    Fern Rainbow
    Otways & Coast Bioregion
     
  2. Luisa

    Luisa Junior Member

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    No clue as to what it is. But I would not have put it back in the garden.

    Hey you might have found a new species!!! Or at least you might have found a new introduced pest species.

    I would have confined it and taken photos, or taken it alive, to Primary Industries or Environment depts, seeking an ID. They should have staff who can advise and if it is a rare or threatened species or a known pest, they could probably ID on the spot (almost).

    Can you find it again?
     
  3. Fern O.

    Fern O. Junior Member

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    hi Luisa

    i prefer to leave things be...
    Especially as i'm not to be around for a while, and no one would snail mind & observe for me...
    snails are territorial and don't venture off very far, to my observations.
    If a rare indigenous species (I don't think so... perhaps a hybrid) best to leave be... if a pest, I am hoping that I don't come back to the place with the garden full of flesh eaters and all my placcid vegetarian helix asperas gone! But perhaps it just liked human flesh... either way, I think it's best to observe creatures in their own environment... to leave my snails as freerangers... and not to come back to a dead caged flesh eater. I'm sure I'll come across the big snail again when I get back.

    Cheers!
    Fern
    -------------------------------------
    Keep luv'n & grow'n
    you all!
    ---------------------------
     

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