24th May: National Escargot Day

Today is National Escargot Day. Escargots being snails, here are 10 things you might not know about snails:

1. Snails are renowned for moving slowly. 1mm a second is a typical speed for adult snail, although some can, if they put their minds to it, travel as fast as 1cm per second.
2. They're also known for being slimy. The mucus they secrete has a dual purpose - it aids movement and keeps them from drying out. It is thanks to the mucus that a snail can crawl over a sharp object, even a razor blade, without hurting itself. There is a myth that snail slime is poisonous to humans, but this isn't true. In fact, some research even suggests it helps cure stomach ulcers.
3. A garden snail has about 14,000 teeth.
4. Snails have four retractable stalks. The longer ones are its eyes and the shorter ones are olfactory organs. They do not have ears, so they are deaf. Their eyes are not that good, either - but their sense of smell is excellent and they can detect the presence of food several metres away.
5. Snail sex is strange to say the least. For starters, most varieties of snail have both male and female sex organs. When a couple of snails decide to mate, they will circle around each other for up to six hours, touching tentacles and biting each other. Then before actual mating, they shoot love darts at each other. This makes sex a risky business for a snail, because their eyesight is so bad, so the shots are not very accurate. A snail could shoot its partner in the head or impale a vital organ by mistake. Or it could miss completely. Which raises the question, why would such a thing evolve? Especially since snails can mate without them - the snail's body does not produce them until it has mated once; the darts take a week to grow, and the randy little things don't always wait that long! Scientists have figured out that the mucus on the dart reconfigures the female part of the reproductive system so that more sperm is stored to fertilize eggs.
6. Garden snails bury their eggs 5 to 10cm down in damp soil. They can lay up to 100 eggs at a time as often as once a month.
7. Snails are hatched with their shells, although initially the shell is colourless and very weak. As soon as it hatches, a baby snail has to eat some calcium to beef up its shell. Usually the most readily available source is the egg it just hatched from. They will often scoff other, unhatched eggs nearby as well. Their shells grow with them, and will turn slightly blue before turning to their adult colour after about three months. After about three years, they stop growing and the growing edge of the shell hardens. Once the snail has stopped growing, it is ready to start mating.
8. The largest living species of snail is the Giant African Snail or Ghana Tiger Snail (Achatina achatina; Family Achatinidae), which can measure up to 30 cm.
9. Most wild snails live about 2 to 3 years and usually die because of parasites or predators. In captivity, they can live up to 15 years, and a lifespan of 25 years is possible for some species.
10. We all know snails are a delicacy in France (escargots), but it's not just the French who like munching on them. In Portugal they are called caracóis and are served stewed with white Wine, Garlic, piri piri, oregano, Coriander or Parsley. In Spain, they are called caracoles, caragols or cargols. In Greece They are eaten either boiled with vinegar, or cooked alive in a casserole with Tomato, Potatoes and squashes. In In Sicily, they are called babbaluci and are boiled with Salt, then served with tomato sauce or oil, garlic and parsley. In parts of Germany they are made into a soup called "Black Forest Snail Chowder" (Badener Schneckensuepple). In addition, snail caviar is a growing trend in Europe. Heliciculture is the farming of snails. Before they can be eaten, a snail is starved for three days, with only Water available, and then fed on flour and water for at least a week. Catching wild snails to eat is risky as they may have a parasite, and if they are not properly cooked it can give you meningitis.