LAND SNAILS 



What they are and where they live 



Among the beautiful pictures 



That hang on Memory's wall, 



Is one ot a dim old forest 



That seemeth best of all. 



— Alice Cary, Pictures of Memory 



WHO does not enjoy a ramble through a deep old forest, 

 with its majestic monarchs of the woodland, its climbing 

 vines, trumpet creeper and wild grape, and its carpet of colorful 

 flowers and soft mosses: Birds flit about in the sunlit glades, 

 squirrels perch on the lower branches ot trees, eying the intruder 

 with apparent curiosity or fear. Butterflies float lazily through 

 the air, and bees dart from flower to flower, A fat old woodchuck 

 waddles peacefully along until he observes the intruder, when he 

 makes a dash for his hole in the side of a hill. On the forest floor 

 are "many old logs, branches of trees and the litter and debris 

 characteristic of an ancient woodland. Here lies hidden a wealth 

 of animal life that escapes the attention of the casual observer. 



Hunting for snails. — Let us turn over one of the old logs, 

 not too large or heavy, and see what is concealed beneath. 

 What a scampering at once takes place! Beetles, spiders, bugs, 

 several salamanders, a few centipedes, all make a bee line for a 

 place in which to hide. But there are a few animals beneath the 

 log that do not run awav. Among these are white or yellow 

 larvae of certain beetles, as well as slugs and various land snails 

 with spiral shells. 



Snails with shells. — Let us look carefully at this land sjjail^ 

 fig. 1, now just emerging from its shell and beginning to crawl 

 slowly over the upturned surface of the log. Its yellowish shell 

 is about an inch in diameter — large for that of an Illinois land 

 snail. This is placed on what may be called the back of the animal 

 and is tilted somewhat to the left side. 



At the head end of the animal are two pairs oi feelers: a 

 pair of short tentacles and, above them, a pair of long eye pe- 

 duncles. At the tip of each of the latter is an eye. The feelers are 

 constantlv moving about, touching everv obstacle in the path 



[3] 



