Snail

Hand made and hand painted.

Materials: high quality native hardwood (maple and elm), finished with environmentally sound oils and lacquers

Size: 35 mm H (1.4 inches)

Made in Germany

Facts:
Snails can be found in a wide range of environments from ditches, deserts, and the abyssal depths of the sea. Although most people are familiar with terrestrial snails, land snails are in the minority. Marine snails have much greater diversity and a greater biomass. The great majority of snail species are marine. Numerous kinds can be found in fresh water and even brackish water. Many snails are herbivorous, though a few land species and many marine species are omnivores or predatory carnivores.

Species of land snails live in almost every kind of habitat, from deserts and mountains to marshes, woodland, and gardens. However, certain species are found most often around human habitation. Land snails have thinner shells, opposed to water snails, which sometimes have very thick shells.

Snails move at a proverbially low speed (1 mm/s is a typical speed). They produce mucus to aid locomotion by reducing friction, and the mucus also helps reduce the snail's risk of mechanical injury from sharp objects. This means that they can 'walk' over sharp objects like razors without being injured.

Snails have a shell which they have from the larval stage and which grows with them in size. A snail's shell forms a logarithmic spiral. Most snail shells are right-handed, meaning that the spiral proceeds in a clockwise direction from the apex to the opening.

Snails range greatly in size. The largest land snail is the Giant African Snail or Ghana Tiger Snail, which can measure up to 30 cm. Pomacea maculata, or Giant Apple Snail is the largest freshwater snail, with a diameter of up to 15 cm and a mass of over 600 g. The biggest of all snails is Syrinx aruanus, an Australian marine species which can grow up to 77.2 cm (30 inches) in length and 18 kg (40lbs) in weight.

Some snails hibernate during the winter (typically October through April in the Northern Hemisphere).