This morning was a lovely cool morning, one of
the last cold fronts over the western cape before
the long hot summer. I stroled through the garden enjoying it for a few moments then my eyes
caught this aloe. The snails were out late on this
cool morning having a brunch before they hide
for the day !
"People pay to have snail slime on their skin,
I am getting this for free" - I told myself
while squashing the snails between my fingers.
In case you do not know it seems the word
is going around that snail slime is one of
those "proven" remedies for a youthfull skin.
I took many years off the age of the skin on
my hands but it did not improve the beauty
of my hands which were scratched and
bitten by the sharp teeth of the aloes at the
same time. It is not easy to get the snails
out between the aloe leaves.
I feel like doing something to that neck !
Something slower than a quick squash
between my fingers.
Unbelievable ...this juvenile snail could not
have eaten all that much in one sitting, he
must be the last one remaining after a party.
Rot can set in where the skin is broken in
aloes and other succulents. The hole, on
the top right side of the photo above this
one must be from the previous party,
it dried out well so there is no danger
of rot any more.
I believe these two snails are an endemic
snail species. I do not know anything
about the identity of snails, you are
to help me out there. We see them often
along the western coast (South Africa).
They climb on the wooden fence poles
and sit in a bundle. It seems easy to kill
them, but those on the poles is only the
tip of the snail-mountain. I have not
seen them sitting in bundles on poles
where we live, 100 km inland. They
are not as many as on the coast, but they
do a lot of damage all the same.
Could this be the delicatessen snail which
arrived here from France? I am not tempted
to try, but if we would learn to enjoy eating
escargot that would solve more than one
problem.
