AIBU to rescue snails and put them in front gardens

[ArchMemory]

On my way to work in the morning I sometimes see snails crossing the pavement heading towards the road. Often I pick them up and pop them in the nearest garden so they don’t dry out or get trodden on or run over. But I know some gardeners view snails as pests. Snails are left in peace in our garden.

AIBU?

I’d be throwing them at the back of your head as you walked away! No thanks, keep your slimy little creeps to yourself

I move snails off paths and roads - as do my dc (teens now!) but I'd usually move them to a wild patch/the edge of the path rather than actually putting them in someone's garden. I also know it's probably no use, due to snails strong homing instincts (which is why throwing your own snails into next door doesn't work).
However I am very happy to leave slugs to die as roadkill, and kill snails cheerfully if I find them in my allotment, so my eco credentials are pretty much shot.

I have a friend who puts them in a tub and feeds them to the ducks.

But yeah, yabu. Would you rip chunks off the plants in those gardens? The effect is the same. Think about the bees!

OP you are wasting your time. You are also annoying the owner of the garden and frustrating the snail. The snail will just begin their journey again to the piece of land that is their home.

@ArchMemory you have too much time on your hands

Do you read too much Jilly Cooper?*

Do you also spend time prying frozen worms off pavements?
(Goddsake, Taggie C-B, frozen worms are dead worms. You'll just wreck your nails and be unable to rake them down Rupert's back).

Best advice is to divert your energies to racing up the driveways of mansions to tell the owners that their fields are on fire, then get cross about it actually being intentional crop burning.

600 pages later, you're living in the lap of luxury, having your labia painted with olive oil (not extra-virgin, fnarr fnarr).

*Ah, no - hang on: it's me that reads too much JC, isn't it?
Whoops

I can just imagine the snails thinking FFS as you put them back where they started off from hours ago 🐌

Awww, I think it's sweet. And the odd solitary snail isn't going to make that much difference.

I have some advice on the hosta front for those like @LatteLady! Grow the hostas in pots, on feet and make sure they don't touch surrounding vegetation, especially hedges. In the sprig, when the shoots are coming through, fleece them if it's looking like frost. Throughout the growing season, make sure they are well fed and watered. A lot of snail attack comes from the fact that the plants are already stressed: frost damage can actually last the entire growing season and make them vulnerable, as does water stress. If you do this, they can be pristine without the need for pellets of any kind.

Slightly off topic, but any gardeners wanting to keep slugs and snails off their hostas might like this non toxic easy method.
Peel and bruise five garlic cloves. Put them in a pan with two pints of water, bring to the boil, cover and simmer for twenty minutes.
Cool, then strain the liquid into a container (an old plastic soft drink bottle is ideal).
Put a generous glug of the stinky garlicky water into your watering can, dilute with 4 parts fresh water to 1 part garlic water, then spray it over your hostas.
You need to repeat after rain has washed it off. I do it late at night, so it’s most potent just as the slugs come out marauding!
My hostas used to get stripped to bare ribs. Now they’re lush and leafy. And no wildlife gets harmed, unlike with poisonous metaldehyde slug pellets.
The recipe was published in the Times letters column a few years ago, by an old gardener who used it in South Africa against giant African snails. He reckoned it would work in the U.K.- and my experience suggests he was right!

Me and my kids do the same, my OH rolls his eyes and says we are mad, glad we aren't the only ones! The poor little buggers dont deserve to be squashed!

I try not to kill animals unnecessarily. Snails eat some of my plants, and so do rabbits, but I don’t kill either of them. I do move snails if they’re in the way, they’re part of the ecosystem and provide food for birds and hedgehogs. I’m a gardener too, but I take a “right plant right place” approach. If your local wildlife is decimating a particular plant then perhaps it’s not the best choice for that spot.

YANBU

i am also a snail saver

I do this and take them in the direction they are heading. They may be snails but they have a purpose. Slugs on the other hand..............

I do this. Snails are declining in this country and it is having a negative impact. It has led directly to plummeting populations amongst birds that rely on snails for food. Our ecosystem matters.

I always move snails to safety
Slugs can take their own chances!

The first time I met my mother in law, she was out in the front garden in the dark with a headlamp on. Looking for snails 🐌 she took them up to the local park. I thought she was batshit. I get it now.

Apparently you can eat garden snails but you need to spend a few days feeding them carrots to clear through whatever they've been eating.

I rescue wee wandering snails too, bless their wee cotton socks. 🐌

I would not rehome them in other people’s gardens, lest they encounter one of the bloodthirsty harpies posting on this thread. I bet they kill innocent spiders too. 🔪 💣 🔫 🐌

Oh, and I feel crushed if I accidentally stand on a snail.

These confessions would doubtless come as a great shock to most people who know me in ‘real’ life and have me pegged as a cold, hard bitch but street cred doesn’t matter so much on here.

The first time I met my mother in law, she was out in the front garden in the dark with a headlamp on. Looking for snails 🐌 she took them up to the local park. I thought she was batshit. I get it now

Sounds like a wonderful person. How was she with daughters-in-law?

Thank you all. The first few posts made me feel I was definitely being unreasonable but reading more I am comforted to find that I am not entirely alone.

In terms of having too much time on my hands, this is not my life’s work. It literally takes me 2 seconds as I walk up the road.

I’ve never been ‘caught’ - I go to work early.

I do feel a bit bad towards keen gardeners which is why I asked if I was being unreasonable. The front gardens on my road are not noticeably particularly high maintenance.

Oh, and I feel crushed if I accidentally stand on a snail.

Not as crushed as the snail.

Not as crushed as the snail

STOPPIT!

😭😭😭

oh brian, yep, i feel pretty sad if i accidentally stand on poor snail