Who helps snails

[Finlesswonder]

My garden has loads of snails and I help them along their path. If I see a baby snail wandering along the concrete I teleport it to a plant. Today there was a snail at the very tip of a very long leaf, so it was basically upside down. I could see it stretching it's eyes down as far as it could to try and get down to the ground beneath it, and it was coming so close but couldn't quite make it. I wasn't sure whether it would have the ability to U-turn on such a long fragile leaf, so I pressed down higher up the leaf with my finger so it could finally make contact with the ground and go on its merry way.

Does anyone else do this? I was also wondering whether it does them more harm than good to gently pull them off whatever they're on. And also, if a snail lands on its back, can it right itself?

Strip not step

...and the snails are queuing up like it's a theme park ride.

I never touch them with my actual hands, though. I use grass, or a leaf or litter something.

I love snails and always help them off the path, also regularly stand in them at night which makes me feel bad! My dd used to collect them off tbe pavement and bring them home when she was little so maybe that’s why we have so many now. They have adorable little puppy dog faces when you look at them closely however they also have giant snail orgies in my garden and unfortunately snail penises can’t be unseen no matter how much you wish you could erase the sight from your mind 🤣

I do this too

You might be interested in this unusual snail, OP

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremy_(snail)

I don't help them, and can't see the point.

I prefer my Hostas I'm afraid.

@Nopenott0day that's a great tip!

I always help snails/slugs/worms etc etc on their way and also give them a little dunk in water if they look a bit dry. I hope that's the right thing to do!

The house opposite us has a large pond (lake) and when the frogs/road spawn they cross our road and get run over 😔 We spend the evenings trying to save as many as we can.

Bees also get some sugary water if they are found tired.

Yes, I do! I love to hear there are people like you in this world.
Very soon after I met my husband, we found a big stripey snail in his garden and she had a damaged shell and I watched him fix it for her with aquarium safe glue. I loved him for that.

I don't think you'd be feeling quite so altruistic if they'd eaten their way through your plants that you had been growing for months on end.

They aren't cute - they are a bloody menace. : selfish, greedy, slimy, sneaky, malevolent, very quick-paced (despite their PR image) arseholes.

Death to all snails - and slugs. I bet you help them too. 😂

I hate that they have nearly eaten all the flower buds on my sunflowers, and all the seedlings I planted, but I still help them. I don't move slugs as they make me shudder but I don't go out of my way to kill them. I feel bad if I accidentally step on a snail in the grass or on the path and will move them if I see they might get stepped on. Just leave my sunflowers alone, please🌻🐌

I stomp on snails and slugs as they are competitors for my food sources.

I help and nurture worms and spiders as we're on the same side.

I do and worms too. I help a lot of worms as when it rains so many of them appear on pavements round here.

We have a lot of thrushes in our garden. So mostly we just have empty, broken snail shells! In our previous garden my DS when he was a child used to put a tiny blob of coloured nail varnish on the snail’s shells. He then used to redistribute the snails throughout the neighbourhood. The PP who mentioned homing instinct is right. We used to find them back in our garden. In fact I was amazed how long snails must live for because the marked snails seemed to be around for years after my DS conducted his experiment.

I've found my people! (well mostly)

@Moomindroll I deter 'mine' by leaving a little overgrown corner for them and feed them (eg veg peelings, spring greens, broken hosta leaves) and also a plant saucer topped up with water in dry weather. That encourages them to stay happily in their little kingdom and leave the plants alone.

How dare you lump worms in with snails and slugs?!

Worms are beneficial to soil/gardens, slugs and snails are destructive, they can fuck right off.

I help them by hurling them into the field opposite.

I always move snails and worms off the pavement.

I think you should remove that picture OP, as it shows Jeremy getting into a clinch with Jemima.

There are things that even the most experienced gardener should not see.😊

I have been known to sit around researching the best plant to return a caterpillar to.

I collect them up and put in a bucket with a carrot or some lettuce leaf. When I have enough I give a good clean then fry in garlicky butter. Yum

After a hard rain I’ve been known to find earthworms 🪱 that has gotten in my screened porch. I usual end up rescuing them from the cats and they’re covered in fur and cat spit, but I chuck them out in the yard and wish them well.

See also stick bugs and mantises.

I did however have to kill the lightening bug that my 3 cats were chasing through the house at 3 am. That was complete mayhem and sounded like we were being home invaded.

I've found my tribe! I help snails, slugs and any invertebrates and insects. Worms on the pavement are my favourites.

Yep. I will move snails out of harm's way. I do grow veg and I do get annoyed when it gets eaten, but they are a living creature and i wouldn't deliberately kill them.

The exception to that attitude is flies. I have a can of fly spray on my desk and if I hear them buzzing, they get a squirt.

Why is it ethically acceptable to kill flies but not snails? Does one have a soul and not the other?