Day 175 of Wonder

This brave snail did not flinch as I stepped over him or her (they're hermaphrodites) on my morning walk. Its impossibly long feelers merely swayed a little drunkenly and then it just set a slightly altered course. What I noticed immediately was the shell appeared to be at a crazy angle on its back. It turns out this is absolutely normal but it made me wonder... what did I know about snails? The top fact that really slowed me in my tracks (pun intended) is that they can have a relatively long life span - 5 years is not unrealistic and unverified sources suggest 25 years in the wild. Who knew? They also cover distances so slowly, common garden snails have been recorded to cover around 50 metres in an hour. That's 1.3cm in a second. If you're intrigued and want to know more there is a rather excellent site called Snail World offering lots of fascinating bits of information.