348 Snails and Slugs considered 



their broken shells, and of reproducing such parts of their body as 

 may have been cut away in the perils to which they are exposed. 

 In winter they retire under stones and clods, or into crevices 

 of walls. The slugs become merely less active and more hebetous 

 than usual, but the snails properly hybernate ; and to protect 

 them from annoyance during this dead sleep, of a winter's con- 

 tinuance, they seal up the apertures of their shells with a horny 

 membrane. 



[The natural uses of the snail appear to be, to serve as food 

 for reptiles, birds, and the smaller quadrupeds, such as foxes, 

 badgers, weasels, hedgehogs, &c. The blackbird and thrush 

 are remarkably fond of them ; and may be seen flying off with 

 snails in their bills, and breaking the shells against stones or the 

 branches of trees. There is some apparent reason for sup- 

 posing that the worm is more useful than injurious to plants, 

 but none that we know of as far as respects the snail. 



The snail retires under the cover of foliage or some other pro- 

 tection from the sun and dry air during the day, and comes 

 abroad to feed during the night, after rain, or when the weather 

 is cloudy. It selects, in preference, tender seedling plants, or 

 the leaves of maturer plants which have become tender and 

 somewhat sweet by incipient decay. Snails are very fond of 

 greasy matter, and where a snail has been killed by crushing, 

 its remains atracts numbers to feed on it. About the end of 

 autumn, when the weather begins to grow cold, the snail retires 

 into sheltered places, where it will be protected from the weather 

 during the winter. Where there are evergreens, such as the box 

 or the ivy, it resorts to them ; or if these are wanting, it will retire 

 under loose stones, or rubbish of any kind, such as branches, 

 spray, leaves, or litter ; and, if no other covering presents itself, it 

 has a power of burying itself in soil not too hard on the surface. 



Whatever has been said of the habits of the snail will apply to 

 those of the slug; and the natural enemies and uses of the two 

 animals are exactly the same. 



To destroy snails in gardens, the only effectual mode is hand- 

 picking, either in the evening or early in the morning, or 

 immediately after rain. Empty flower-pots, reversed and dis- 

 tributed over the surface, if an opening is left on the side, by 

 making a small depression in the soil, will attract a great number 

 of snails ; and the more so, if some greased cabbage leaves be 

 placed under the pots. In the course of the autumn, winter, and 

 early in the spring, all their hiding-places should be searched, 

 and the animals taken out and destroyed by crushing, or by 

 giving them to swine, which are said to be very fond of them. 

 Hedgehogs and weasels, being their natural enemies, may be 

 kept in gardens ; and poultry which do not scratch, such as 

 the turkey, ducks, &c., may be admitted occasionally ; though 



