Did you know that Tyrian #Purple, a #color worn by high-ranking people from the #Minoan era onwards, was pretty foul?
The dye was made of #sea#snails which were left to rot.
A dyer would then crush them and dye garments.
This would leave both his hands & the #fabric with a fishy, unpleasant smell.
The dye was also used by Rabbis & was so offensive that the #Talmud (a book important to #Judaism), would allow women to divorce their husbands if they became dyers after marriage.
We've been putting food out every night for hedgehogs, only to find it gets invaded by slugs.
So, following the advice of the good people of Gardener's Question time (BBC R4) I applied copper tape around the foos bowl and placed it on copper sheets.
At best I'd say they find it slightly irritating.
UPDATE:
Seems to be working.
A few of the big slugs have made it across the copper sheet and scaled the copper tape around the bowl then turned back
When I grew up in Southeast Asia, my first experience with snails involved seeing the Lissachatina Fulica, the giant African land snail. As the name suggests, the species was not native to the area, but an invasive species from East Africa. For most of my childhood, this gigantic snail was what “snails” looked like in my mind, because they were the only ones I encountered.
Image source and credit: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Snail_in_Ubud,_Bali,_2010_(1).jpg
" Allopeas myrmekophilos was regularly found in colonies of the ponerine army ant Leptogenys distinguenda. The gastropods always remained inside the bivouacs of their hosts, where they were able to move around undisturbed by the ants. During emigrations A. myrmekophilos was always carried by workers in a manner identical to brood or prey items." https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/PL00012646
This book was meant for me, haha. I LOVE snails. They are so fascinating and adorable.
This book is a wonderful blend of snail observations and a memoir of the author's time stuck in bed with a mysterious illness. Mostly, it's the snail observations for me. I learned SO MUCH! And I love them even more because of it.
It's small and short, and a great reminder of the importance of connecting with nature- even the tiniest life.
21/04/2024 - Like our new friend who we met on our travels today, a Copse snail, we took the day slow.
I was just reading a bit about them, Most snails in the UK only live up to 2 years but this snail can live up to 14 years.
With all that extra time you would think it would travel far and wide but it's said it doesn't cover more than 25 metres in its entire life! An easy pleased snail, nothing wrong with that.
First time as the opponent at a Swedish viva, Tjarno, on speciation and inversions in snails. Memorable field/snail trip yesterday, to Ursholmen islands, helped by gorgeous weather and warm sea. "Viva" v. different from UK equivalent, quite a lot of pros, and few negatives (except the £!). #genomics#littorina#snails#sweden#phd#viva#Speciation