CURIOSITIES ABOUT SNAILS.

Snail trails

  Many times we can notice the presence of the snails in our orchard or garden by the slime trace they leave at crawling. But what is really interesting is that they often leave slime traces parallelly or even one on the other.

   After some research and after measuring the thickness of the slime trace, the conclusion was that the snails and slugs follow the track of other specimens of the same species in order to save energy. When using the same track they need less slime than their predecessors, this way they save up to two-thirds of energy, which they use to feed or to reproduce. One  could say that snails use a paved road rather than a road with rocks and obstacles.

A way of detecting the snails is the trail.

    Snails detect the chemicals contained in this viscous liquid in order to find the way and the species that has left the track. Normally these mollusks follow the trace in the same direction, thus they locate themselves more easily in the mating season.

Snail slime properties

   Lately we are used to hearing or seeing ads in the media about the miraculous properties of the snail slime, which promise to cure the acne, scars, stretch marks, wrinkles and burns. This contradicts with many experts who argue that while the skin benefits of the secretions of this animal are amplely demonstrated, most of the products containing snail slime have not been obtained according to an appropriate scientific rigour.

   The propierties of the snail slime were discovered by chance, like many other scientifical discoveries. In 1965, in  Gregorio Marañón Hospital in Madrid, oncologyst Abad Iglesias subjected the snails to X and gamma rays, discovering that snails were producing another substance, differrent from the one used to crawl. And the same substance quickly cured the injuries produced when radiated.

All the creams based on snail slime must pass a rigorous control.

    With all these discoveries one should differrentiate between the slime used by the snail to move, which does not have healing properties, and the secretion produced as a defense mechanism to the environmental aggressions and it seems it helps to slow the ageing, repairing people's skin. This secretion exerts a dual role: it stimulates the formation of collagen and elastin, repairing the ageing signs, as well as it minimizes the damage caused by the free radicals, which are the to blame for the premature ageing of the skin. So all creams based on snails slime must be garanteed by a rigorous scientific study to support the properties it offers.

If you want to read our other articles about the cockroaches, moths, slug and snails traps as well as some curiosities on these insects,

click below.