SAMMY SNAIL
A snail’s life.
• All snails begin like
this.
• They begin as eggs .
• When they hatch out
they are soft but even
then they have a soft
shell that hardens
quickly.
BURIED EGGS.
• You can see three
small balls we think
they are snail eggs.
Weird but true
Every adult snail can lay
eggs. Snails are
hermaphrodites .
• The snail lays about 50-80
eggs in a nest, about 3cm.
deep in the soil.
• They hatch out in about 3
weeks.
• The temperature must be
about 12°C for eggs to
hatch.
The smallest snail we found.
Life for one year.
The tiny snail has a
soft shell at first
then it hardens
It just eats and eats
for the next year.
The shell gets
thicker.
They hibernate in
winter and in dry
weather.They eat
mostly at night
and love damp
warm weather.
Who has been eating my flowers?
Snails are
plant eaters
only.
Different sizes.
We found these five
different size shells
in our gardens.
They range from a
few months to
3years.
Length
• It is hard to
measure an adult
snail .
• On average it is
about 70mm.
long.
• Baby snails are
about 5 mm.
long .
An adult snail
This is an adult garden snail.
• It can live for up to five years .
The best time to find them is
May to September.
– It takes one year for a snail
to get to adult size.
The proper name for a snail is
HELIX ASPERSA.
It is a gastropod which, in latin,
means belly foot.
How to recognise an adult.?
• An adult snail at
about one year
old begins to
grow a lip at the
base of the shell.
• It looks like a
soldier’s helmet.
• Shells have an
inner layer.
Four horns
• The top two are eyes.
They are about a
centimetre long. If you
touch an eye it can
pull it in instantly.
• The bottom two are
shorter and always
close to the ground. It
can sense vibrations
and smell with them.
THE EYE (x10)
• The eyes are on the
tops of its horns. We
don’t know how good
their eyesight is but
they always know the
difference between
light and shade .
Retractable Eye
• A snail can pull in its eye at
any time.
• One or both together.
• This protects the eye and
can keep the pupil moist.
• It has no eye lash or eye lid.
• It can also retract its lower
feelers.
• It also makes it easier to
squeeze into its shell.
Social Creatures
Snails are social
creatures.
They don’t mind
climbing on top
of each other.
You will very
seldom find
them alone .
They will always
share their
space with each
other.
Great pets
• Snails are not
afraid of
people. They
will nest quite
happily in
children’s
hands.Sammy
is Niamh’s
pet.
The shell.
The snail says
alas!
The snail says
alack!
Why must I carry
my house on my
back?
Good question!
Two Reasons
• Its biggest fear is that
its body will dry out
in the sun and wind.It
needs liquid for the
slime.
• It can’t run away
quickly from its
enemies so it needs a
place to hide instantly
if it is in danger of
being attacked.
How does the shell grow?
•
The snail makes its shell
bigger by adding layer
after layer of new shell at
the opening of the shell.
 The ridges are like the
rings on trees.
• Its like a slinkey where
each ring is slighty bigger
than the last.
• You can see the layers
here.
A shady place.
Snails hide in
places like this
during the bright
days. They can stay
this way for more
than a week in the
shade if the
weather is too
warm and dry.They
don’t have to eat
every day.Wet
nights are heaven
for them.
Day or night?
• How does a
snail inside a
shell know if it
is day or night?
• This is what it
is like inside a
shell in
sunlight.
• We shone a
light though
the shell in a
microscope.
No two shells have the same
pattern.
Snowy mountain.
• This is not a snowy
mountain. This is a
close up of an old
snail shell.The shell
has been bleached
by the sun and the
white colour shows
what it is made
of.(calcium)
Regular Whorls.
• Of all the shells we tested
we found that each whorl
is roughly three times
wider than the last one in
adults.
• If you draw a diagonal
line from the centre to the
lip you will nearly always
get 2mm. 6mm.18mm. for
the outside three whorls.
Snail graveyard
• This is an old slate
leaning up against the
south facing wall of a
flower garden .
• All these snail shells are
empty. They may have
died during the cold
weather of winter or
maybe of old age.
• This slate has been here
for at least 20 years.
Eventually
Shells will lose their
stickiness and fall to the
ground.
Sometimes snails eat bits of
these old snail shells
Hens do the same thing with
egg shells.
How heavy is a shell.
• A snail shell may feel
light to you but if you
were a snail your shell
would be about
• 25%-30% of your total
weight.
Lighter than an egg shell
Shell volumes
6.c.c
1.8c.c.
We crushed
the shells We
measured
their volumes
like this.
Light but strong
This shell was
able to hold up
a 6.5 kg sledge
when placed
on top of the
shell.
But if you
place the shell
on its side and
place even half
that weight on
it it will crush
easily.
On its side
• This is what happened
when we placed the
shell on its side we put
1.8kg hatchet on the
edge.
• It crushed easily.
• The birds still find it
hard to crush the shell.
Central pillar
• This pillar from
top to bottom is
what gives the
shell its strength.
• It is not half as
strong from side
to side.
• This is what
allows the bird to
break the shell.
The Anvil.
• They have learned
a trick.
• They use a stone to
bash the shell
against.
• It has a sharp edge
which makes it
easier to break the
shell.
• Even so we have
found only the
remains of small
shells there.
How a snail comes out ?
• They don’t screw
out or in.
• They just fold out
and in.
• The top third of the
snail is like a
camel’s hump but it
is stuck to the top
spirals of the shell.It
is never exposed.
• If you find an empty
shell its owner is
dead.
Emerging Snail
• This is how a snail
looks just before it
emerges.
• It can be very hard to
get them to come out,
but, if you dip the
base in water they will
come out shortly.
Wakey! Wakey!
• First two folded flaps
come out and open.
Is it safe to come out?
• Then the head appears
from under the edge of
the shell.
• You will only realise
this when a little horn
pops out.
• This is a quick peep.
One eye first.
Unfolding.
• Next
comes the
second eye.
• The body
unfolds
more.
Almost Open
• Now he is
ready to put
out his tail.
• Once his
tail is out
the rest is
easy.
Finally out
• This is what he
is like when he
is out.
• You can just
see his curved
mouth.
You can see how
moist his body
is.
OUT FOR A WALK
• Snails are not stiff like
sausages. They can
stretch and bend and
twist any way they
want.
• They move more like
an octopus than any
other creature.
Slime
• A snail can not live
without slime.
• It needs it to smooth
the path for itself.
• It also stops tiny
creatures from taking
a juicy bite.
• The slime hardens in
contact to air.
Trails
• They can follow their
own trails back to
their hiding places
because the trails can
last a long time.
• They can follow other
trails to meet their
friends.
Sticky slime
• One day Sammy
was exercising. He
climbed up on a 20
gram weight.We
lifted Sammy,the
20 grams came
with it.
• Snails can stick to
anything in any
position.
Super glue
• When the slime
hardens after a
few hours it is
like super glue
• You can see
some hard slime
in the middle of
the picture
Glue test
• It took a force of
150 grams. (1.5
Newtons) To
remove the shell
from the wall.
• This did not harm
the snail
• One shell took 2
Newtons to
remove
Gluey Rim
• The snail
was not
harmed by
this pull
because
the snail’s
body is
above the
gluey rim
How Snails Breathe
• Snails breathe through
a hole in the bottom of
their bodies.They need
to breathe all the time
even when they
hibernate.We got this
picture from a book.
“SNAIL WATCH IT
GROW”
•
By Barrie Watts
How fast can a snail move?
• This is not easy
to find out
because-----• They might not
move when you
want .
• They don’t go in
a straight line.
• This is how we
solved the
problem
Tracking the snails
• We kept a primrose
leaf in front of them as
bait to keep them
moving .
• We placed them on a
white sheet and follow
their trail with a red
pencil
• We timed four snails
for 5 minutes each
Snail trail.
• We placed pipe
cleaners on the
red line and cut
and bent them
to follow the
line.Then it was
only a matter of
straightening
them out and
measuring the
straight length.
RESULTS
•
•
•
•
Mr F----------30cm
S2-------------38.5cm
Buttercup----42.5cm
Bubbles------38.5cm
_________________
• Total---------149.5cm
• Average-- 37.5cm
=
=
7.5cm /minute
4.5M. Per hour
Five minute walk
How strong is a snail?
• Snails has no arms and
only 1 foot. The only way
we could think of testing
its strength was to
measure what it could
pull.
• We started by making a
harness for the snail
shell.We attached a few
grams to the end of the
harness.Each cube is a
gram.
• Sammy easily pulled 46
grams on his first day.
Adding the grams
• In training we added a
gram each time.
• We placed a black pipe
cleaner directly behind
the load.
• If a gap appeared it
meant that he had
pulled it.
Could you pull such a load?
A horse of a snail.
• This is Sammy’s
record pull.
• 80 grams
• He pulled 9 times his
weight across a desk.
• He might even have
pulled more.
• For its size a snail is
much stronger than a
horse.
Press photograph
• After his record pull
Sammy posed for the
camera.
• We swear he even
smiled.
• We put him back in
the box for a nice well
earned rest.
Cart pulling
• A horse has a cart and
can pull about one
thousand kg plus a cart
• We decided to put a
cart on Sammy. We
borrowed the infants’
tractor trailor.
• Gradually as he got
used to it we increased
the load.
Spectators
• Everybody was
very interested in
what he could
pull.
• After a week he
was getting
better and the
loads were
getting bigger.
• Here he is
pulling110 grams
in the trailer.
Official Poster.
• This is Sammy’s
official fan club
poster.
• Here he is posing
before his record
breaking pull of
• ---------------
Trailer and load
Personal trainer
• This is Keith.
• He is Sammy’s trainer.
• He makes sure the
harness is fitted safely
and that Sammy is not
harmed in any way.
• He was sure Sammy
could pull a bigger load
if there was no crowd
watching. Keith tested
him again in a quiet
moment.
A lettuce leaf is a great help
• With a lettuce leaf
in front and his two
friends cheering
him on he breaks
all records again!
• He pulled 246
grams.
Stunt man
• Is there no end to
Sammy’s talents?
• Here he is climbing
over a kitchen devil
knife for some
lettuce.
• This was his last
public appearance.
• Well, Sammy
retired to a sunny
wall garden.He
doesn’t do
interviews now.
What happened to Sammy?
• He lives high above a
juicy flower patch.
• He sleeps all day and
eats and talks to his old
friends at night.
• We often check on him
but don’t disturb him.
• We always know where
to find him .
This was
Connor’s idea.
We hope he
enjoys his
retirement.
Keith,Conor,Niamh,Niamh 2006