Step three is addressing the cause. We started by collecting the snails we could find and putting them in containers with leaves we have seen them eat, and tossing them in a garbage bin near parks, far from home (and other people’s homes too). Each morning and night we would check thei favorite hiding places, the little leaves on the bushes, deep in the middle, hanging upside down, on or under the fence, or even on the gutter.
The snails are easy to deal with once you’ve spotted them. They don’t fight. During the day, we tend to find them tucked in and sleeping, so they’re easy to pick up. If they’re crawling, just a light tap and they tuck back into their shells and remain still. The hard part is just spotting them, because they don’t move fast enough for you to notice.
Once we knew the nature of the snails, we used that knowledge to our advantage. Whether it is because they like moisture or are afraid of drowning, the fact is that they come out when it rains. That is when we take big containers and fill them up with snails. One time, we picked up over two hundred in one day of rain. It is important to know what factors bring out the problem so that you can capitalize on those opportunities or better understand the nature of the cause.
Not all searches were that successful. Once I was really excited because the snails were hard to come by and I managed to find one as I was trimming the celery plant. I put it aside as I continued to trim the celery and it woke up and started moving. I covered the snail with a leaf so it wouldn’t get hot and then once I couldn’t see it I forgot about it. I regretted that. (As consolation, two days later my mom found one that looked like it)
Another time I was trying to be clever and knock a snail off the wall because I couldn’t reach it. Instead of falling into my cup as I intended, it fell somewhere and I lost it. That was unfortunate because instead of getting rid of it that day, I would have to try to find it again some other day.
There were times I was especially proud of my snail hunting skills, like when I looked under the fence and discovered one eyeing the greens in our yard from the neighbor’s yard. There were other times when I had given up, thinking there were no snails to be found that day, only to find that six were hiding somewhere I had failed to look in the beginning of my search. Either way, the process of searching can teach us a lot about the nature of the snails as well as about our own personality.
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