Grape snail: useful or harmful

Have your children ever brought home grape snails? Probably yes. But did not you expect with great interest when you were a child, when will this animal appear from an intricate hut and expose the moving horns? Most likely, it was. Let's get acquainted with these animals closer, because snails are even bred at home. For what? Let's see. So, our "guinea pig" is a grape snail.

Snails have many different names, and they depend on the regions of its habitat. For example, in ancient Rome, there were special street farms, because it turns out that these animals are very tasty and in many countries are considered a delicacy to this day. In our time, the snail is known throughout Europe, except for places where the climate is too harsh. But even in spite of the harsh, sometimes wintry winters, it feels rather well in the suburbs.

Grape snail is active only in the warm season. She can wait for winter by burrowing 5-10 cm deep into the earth. Does this when the temperature drops below 10-12 degrees. Closing the mouth of the shell with a lime cap, the animal falls asleep until the onset of spring.

The shell of the snail is strong enough. It can withstand up to 13 kg of weight. The porous structure allows it to weigh less at sufficient strength, and also to accumulate moisture. The color of the shell depends on the location of the cochlea.

In summer, a grape snail lives in thickets of bushes, in gardens and parks, light forest edges, and always near the pond. The soil in the animal habitat is often limestone, and it is associated with the calcium salts that are needed to build a shell. The snail leads a nocturnal or twilight way of life and adores high humidity. And after the rain, it is especially active.

Maybe it will seem strange, but the snail of the grape lives for a long time. Often in nature this animal reaches the age of 20 years. Of course, this is possible if the snail is not eaten (hedgehogs, birds, mice, caresses, etc.), or it will not get to a person who destroys these animals as pests.

The snail feeds on plants (both cultured and wild): fresh or rotten leaves, young shoots. He adores the snail of strawberries, leaves of grapes, mugs, dandelions, cabbage, does not bypass even horseradish and nettles. This animal is considered an agricultural pest, because the snail harms young shoots of cultivated plants. There are even countries that have banned the importation of these animals to their territory.

In our time, given the fact that a grape snail, care for which is quite simple, is considered a delicacy, the animal is bred on farms in France, Spain, Greece, Germany. The snail meat contains 10% protein, 30% fat and 5% carbohydrates. It is rich in vitamins and trace elements.

But the grape snail, the photo of which you can see, possesses meat, which is a strong aphrodisiac and is applied to cosmetology. Also, biologically active substances have caused the use of a snail in medicine for the production of drugs for bronchitis and diabetes.