Beauty In Nature’s Design

Garden Snail (Cornu aspersum), July 2016, rear garden, South Staffordshire, England. © Pete Hillman.

More Rain …

Believe it or not this is the same species of snail which I posted previously. The shells can be quite variable. White-lipped Snail (Cepaea hortensis) June 2019, rear garden, Staffordshire, England. © Pete Hillman.

When It Rains

Yes, when it rains these all come out to play ... or eat my garden to the ground. I really like the shell colours and patterns on these. White-lipped Snail (Cepaea hortensis) June 2019, rear garden, Staffordshire, England. © Pete Hillman.

A Perilous Journey

One summer's day I observed this White-lipped Snail Cepaea hortensis as it travelled from leaf to leaf on my crab apple tree. It was very slow going, but how it managed to slide and glide from leaf to leaf without falling off was quite something. Double click on images to enlarge. August 2017, rear garden,...

Who Has Been At The Bird Seed Again?

I found this Large Red Slug (Arion (Arion) rufus) wallowing in the ground bird feeder this morning, and wallowing almost as if it did not have a care in the world. Later on when I took this image, it had finally slithered out the feeder, covered in seed. I am sure these eat more of...

Who Said Slugs Don’t Like Salt?

This is the Large Red Slug (Arion (Arion) rufus), and its slimy kind really like to set up camp in my garden to chomp on my plants. Now most people know if you want to reduce the slug population in your garden you can dig a hole in the ground and bury a small container...

Making Molluscs

Apparently if you are a snail and are in a romantic mood all you need is a large green leaf, some shade, and a mate, of course. I found these pair of Garden Snails (Cornu aspersum) enjoying a romantic moment or two this morning at around 8:00, yet they were still at it over two...

Nobody At Home

I am always fascinated by the intricacies of shells, and how they have evolved to be so. I can't help but gaze at the top image in wonderment, marvelling at the beauty and bio-engineering involved in its evolution over hundreds of millions of years. All this to protect and shelter the animal inside which had...

Common Chrysalis Snail Lauria cylindracea

This is one tiny snail which I never even knew existed until the other week. The shell grows no longer than 4.4mm (0.2in) long. Note it has only one single tooth in the shell opening (see image below), which helps identify this species, and also it is quite a plumpish looking snail with 5 to...