Sally Snail is a lovely little friend. She is quiet and calm and sometimes helps her friends to stop rushing around, because they have to stop and go slowly if they want to chat with her. She likes to do things in her own time, and although she’s slow, she eventually arrives at where she wants to be. She lives around the cabbages and lettuces in Vegetable Row. Sometimes, she can be found sitting on tall plants, happily munching the edges of leaves and leaving them looking jagged. She see lots going on in Flower Town from up there!

The snail

The snail is one of the slowest creatures in the world. As it moves along, it leaves behind a trail of mucus. The mucus helps it to glide over rough surfaces and to move upside down and around corners.

Snails live around damp vegetation and they come out at night. They don’t like bright sunlight, but come out on cloudy days. Some snails hibernate (sleep) when it’s cold, and when the weather is very dry with no rain.

The snail can see but not hear. It has two sets of tentacles on its head, one set with eyes, the other set for sensing.

You may think that the snail is weak and fragile, but it’s really very strong. When the snail is in a vertical position, perhaps climbing up a plant stalk, it can carry up to ten times its own body weight!

The snail is not really an insect. It is a gastropod (a lump of muscle). It has a very rough tongue which saws around the edges of leaves and chews up whole baby leaves.

Snails are useful in the garden because they turn plant material into compost, which helps new plants to grow strong and healthy.

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