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The garden · Slugs, snails and worms
Garden snail
Cornu aspersum
A snail with a round brown shell, marked with darker bands and paler flecks, and four tentacles.
- Size
- Shell about 3cm across
- Look for it
- March to October
- Where
- Gardens, hedge bottoms, walls and waste ground
My spotter's list
Glides after you, leaving a trail. Move your pointer and see.
Good to know
Six things about the snail
TeethThousands of teeth
Its tongue is like a strip of sandpaper, set with thousands of tiny teeth that rasp food away.
EyesEyes on stalks
The two long tentacles have an eye at the tip. The two short ones are for smelling and feeling.
HomeIt finds its way home
A garden snail returns to the same resting place each morning, following its own trails.
ShellA house for life
The shell grows with the snail, adding to the open edge. It can never leave it.
DrySealed in for a drought
In dry or cold weather it seals the mouth of its shell with a papery door of dried slime and waits.
SlimeA road of its own making
The slime lets it glide over almost anything, even the edge of a blade, without harm.
The real thing
Photos of the snail
Photos are from Wikimedia Commons, used under the free licences shown. They have been resized, and cropped where they appear in link previews.
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Out and aboutHow to spot one
Go out with a torch after rain on a mild evening. By day, look in the gap behind a flowerpot or under ivy on a wall. Take an adult with you.
Lend a handHow to help
Song thrushes eat snails, so avoid slug pellets: they can poison the birds too. A beer trap or a night-time patrol is safer.
Following youLadybird
Who should follow you?
The garden
Meadow and hedgerow
Pond and stream bugs live on their own page: choosing one takes you there.
Pond and stream
The log pile
After dark
Bugs from other parts of the world live on their own pages: choose another.
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