Sorry I missed this. The silky snails are widespread in the UK but they need a damp habitat with dense foliage so they tend to be quite localised. I guess the elevation helps here as we're up in the clouds a lot which keeps things damp and I water the dry stone wall in droughts to keep the plants alive. There's two other species of hairy snail too but the other two don't seem to get recorded in this area.
Thanks @wild edges - never thought about elevation with regard to that. Basically sea level here but I'll keep looking. As @Lyn says, she may have more luck with them than I will.
@philippasmith2 Fascinating isn’t it Philippa. Unfortunately the inevitable has happened, I’ve been diligently removing the eggs and crushing them, OH is going to have to dispose of these little babies😢 So tiny, that’s a 2” jar lid.
Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor.
Oh Lyn !!! I don't envy you with that task ( or R come to that ) . They are beautifully marked already aren't they. When did they actually hatch out? From what I can see, they are all white bodied but I'm not sure whether the Browns are brown straight away or whether they alter colour ( if they are going to ) a short time after hatching ? I haven't seen any sign of eggs from the 3 Turds ( I should say yet I suppose ) but I'm now tempted to sit them down tonight and have a serious conversation with them
They all start off that colour Philippa, no colour, change when they about 10mm I think, at the moment these are 5mm. I’m not sure how long they been hatched, I would say only a day of so. If I were you I would keep raking over their compost as the bury them, they’re not usually visible from the top.
Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor.
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As @Lyn says, she may have more luck with them than I will.
Unfortunately the inevitable has happened, I’ve been diligently removing the eggs and crushing them, OH is going to have to dispose of these little babies😢
So tiny, that’s a 2” jar lid.
I’ve got to stop studying them😢😢😢😢😢
I haven't seen any sign of eggs from the 3 Turds ( I should say yet I suppose ) but I'm now tempted to sit them down tonight and have a serious conversation with them
I’m not sure how long they been hatched, I would say only a day of so.
If I were you I would keep raking over their compost as the bury them, they’re not usually visible from the top.
so now there’s another 6” monster in the making to look after.