Snail - Maree Clarkson

"The further off from England, the nearer is to France /

Then turn not pale, beloved snail, but come and join the dance."

"Snail" pencil sketch and watercolour in Moleskine Watercolour Sketch-book

Oh my! I found some snails in my garden! They're all over the Agapanthus. One consolation is that there is now plenty to eat for the Thrushes and any passing hedgehogs.

The snails are related to the oyster, the clam, the mussel, the squid and the octopus. All of these animals are called mollusks. More than 30,000 kinds of snails have been described, of which about two-thirds still exist -- about half of them in salt water and the other half in fresh water or on land. The remainder are known only as fossils and, in the limestone quarries around Chicago, we find several kinds-- some as big as your fist-- which have lain buried there since this region was on the floor of the ocean, 150 million years ago.

There are even Graffiti snails roaming London!

Shell shock: One snail has shell graffiti

Most people have to shell out to give their homes a makeover – not so for these multi-coloured molluscs.

The flashy snails have had their drab shells given a paint job for nothing – and they didn't even have to move a muscle.

A London artist, known only as Slinkachu, has used the mollusks' shells for a series of designs dubbed 'Inner City Snail – a slow-moving street art project'.

FOUND THIS AT http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=156464&in_page_id=34