A Fine Roman Snail

While bicycling along the Rhine last weekend, I came across this glorious beast ambling across the trail:

This is helix pomatia, known in German as a Weinbergschnecke (lit: vineyard snail). It belongs to the category of animals known in German as Weichtiere (lit: soft animals!). It has various names in English, such as Burgundy snail or Roman snail (since we know the Romans liked to eat them). They are generally what you get in a French restaurant when you order escargot.

In the wild, they can live 6-8 years, in captivity up to 20.  Specimens found in the wild are protected under the German equivalent (g) of the Endangered Species Act. They are hermaphrodites who nevertheless mate in pairs, a process which involves two snails rearing up, locking their moist bodies together, and stabbing each other with 11-millimeter long "love darts". Not unlike what goes on in my apartment of a Saturday night.

The snail made me think of this stanza of a poem by Kenneth Koch: 

Look at this wolf.

He is lighter than a car

But heavier than a baby carriage.

He is highly effective.

Each wolf manifestation is done entirely in the classic manner of a wolf.

He stands completely still.

He is not "too busy to talk to you,"

Not "in conference" or "on the phone."

Some day there may not be any more wolves.

Civilization has not been moving in a way that is favorable to them.

Meanwhile, there is this one.

Comments

[Ralph Noble]

I discover these snails now and again in my vegetable garden. I used to gather them and disperse them elsewhere, believing that they would devour plants, as do slugs. A mistaken belief, as I have found out since, and now I let them roam at will, decorating my garden.

Nature's bounty.

[CN Heidelberg]

Yay! I love those snails. I never even thought of having one in captivity, but 20 years is impressive!