Range: Worldwide Habitat: Varies by species; Trees, mountains, deserts, and more Size: Up to 1 foot (30.48cm) long depending on species Diet: Tree sap, lichen, mushrooms, worms, slugs, and snail shells Threats: Insects, birds, amphibians, rodents, and more Life span: Up to one decade or more

Transcript:

Today on Animal Fact Files we’re discussing land snails. Feel free to subscribe to the channel as there is lots more to learn! Snails were requested by Stormofmaat and I’m pretty dang excited because snails are freaking awesome.

Just to keep things simple, and to help reign myself in, we’re only going to discuss terrestrial snails today or basically any gastropods found on land who have a noticeable external shell. You better believe I’m saving those slug boys for another day - ugh, and don’t even get me started on marine gastropo-- AH! See!! I’m getting off track already.

Snail are awesome. They’re molluscs which means they’re somewhat related to clams and even octopuses, but they’re the only molluscs who were brave enough to leave home and make their way onto land. Well, I guess they sort of brought home with them. Snails aren’t like hermit crabs who can remove their shells; a snail’s shell grows with it as it ages - and some snails can live to be more than a decade old! It really all depends on the species, and there are tens of thousands of them, and probably more. I don’t remember where I read this as it was quite a while ago, but someone made the statement that we are currently living at the peak of the gastropod era. What a time to be alive!

When snails left the water they had broad horizons. These days, land snails are found just about everywhere around the globe with the exception of the coldest polar areas. They’re incredibly diverse, too. Some snails look like your everyday garden variety, but some are hairy, some are scaly, some are huge, and some are tiny. Yeah, the smallest snails could fit through the eye of a needle. Thankfully, finding snails isn’t like finding said needle in a haystack, because they’re usually in pretty predictable places.

Many land snails like moist places on the ground, some live in trees, others can be found in the desert, and there are even some who live high up in the mountains. A soggy cave is always nice, too. It’s more typical to find snails in warmer regions, but the ones who do live in cold areas can hibernate during the winter. Yeah, they have this whole living on the land thing down to a science.

Snails may also be the reason myths about Cupid’s arrow exist. See, many snails possess both male and female organs, but they generally don’t self-fertilize, so they still mate in order to reproduce. One species of snail in particular shoot “love darts” of mucus into their lover to help increase the chance of mating success. So, in a way, Cupid’s arrows could be considered something akin to snot rockets. Sexy.

When mating is successful snails can produce hundreds of eggs that are laid in leaf litter or pre-constructed nests. It can take up to a month for the eggs to hatch, and they hatch with a soft shell attached to their bodies. Land snails need to consume calcium in order to strengthen their shells, so they’ll consume the shells of deceased snails to do this. Snails also eat tree sap, lichen, mushrooms, worms and even slugs - it all just depends on the species. On the other hand, land snails are eaten by insects, birds, amphibians, rodents, and other predators. Even humans eat snails!

Some people see snails as a symbol of life and rebirth as represented by their swirling shells. Snail mucus has also been used as a skin regenerator including wound healing and even helping fight wrinkles. I won’t lie, I would probably let a snail crawl on me if it wanted to; they’re just so dang cute!

For more facts on land snails, check out the links in the description. I hope I’ve won over at least some of the people who are snail squeamish with today’s fun snail facts. Don’t forget to give a thumbs up for gastropods, and thank you for watching Animal Fact Files.