Snails are a shelled gastropod. The name is most often applied to land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs. However, the common name snail is also used for most of the members of the molluscan class Gastropoda that have a coiled shell that is large enough for the animal to retract completely into.
Snails have considerable human relevance, including as food items, as pests, and as vectors of disease, and their shells are used as decorative objects and are incorporated into jewelry.
The snail has also had some cultural significance, tending to be associated with lethargy. The snail has also been used as a figure of speech in reference to slow-moving things.
Snails’ eating habits vary widely, with some being generalists and some being specialist feeders.Snails feed at night. They feed primarily on decaying organic matter.
Their diet also includes fungi, lichens, green foliage, worms, centipedes, insects, animal feces, carrion, and other slugs. Some snails feed on other snails too.
Depending on the species, snails can live between three and seven years in the wild and between 10 and 15 years in captivity.
Snails reach sexual maturity from six weeks to five years of age, depending on the species.
Snails reproduce through laying of eggs. Most land snails are hermaphrodites (both male and female within one individual).
Although they are often overlooked, land snails play vital roles in the ecosystem. They help to recycle nutrients. They move spores of fungi and other organisms to new locations. And they are an important food source for everything from firefly larvae to songbirds and raptors and humans.
Snail symbolism
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Because of its slowness, the snail has traditionally been seen as a symbol of laziness. It has also been used as a symbol of the deadly sin of sloth.
In Mayan mythology, the snail is associated with sexual desire, being personified by the god Uayeb.
Why vultures and snails are enemies
Once upon a time, the snail and the vulture had a quarrel in the animal kingdom.
The vulture had boasted that it will crush the snail for being too slow to attend to meetings. According to the vulture, the lateness of snail was affecting his time to go scavenge for carcasses for himself and family.
This outrage did not go well with the snail, who challenged the vulture to a bout and whoever overpowers the other should be crowned the strongest.
After a long quarel, Lion, king of the animals decided that the duo should slug it out. A day was then fixed for the bout.
According to the story, on the eve of bought, snail went to the vulture’s nest while it was still asleep and laced its saliva all around the vulture’s wings and body, and left.
Early in the morning, snail dressed in war ragallia, accompanied by its family members, and chanting songs of war. The whole kingdom gathered, waiting for vulture’s arrival. After a long wait, some animal delegation were sent to find out why the vulture has failed to show up.
When the delegation arrived, they discovered that the vulture could no longer fly as its wing have been clipped together by the snail’s saliva.
The snail was later declared winner and strongest. Since then, vulture’s family vowed to eat up snails.
