Ideas on where to look for snails

Where's your NOTEBOOK? You're not supposed to be enjoying yourself you know. Copyright free image by William Strode.

One of my own posts has a useful list of habitats that the keen snail-collector might think about checking, and I've also shared my snail-hunting expeditions around campus.

I think Lionel E Adams (1854-1945, pictured here with beard and older than when he wrote his book) still has some useful advice for budding snail-catchers in the 21st century. I recommend you take a look at his Collector's Manual of British Land and Freshwater Shells - especially at the introduction.  I find his enthusiasm infectious. (The names of snails have since changed so the species descriptions can be confusing, but they do contain the occasional amusing remark).

He suggests taking samples of dead leaves and moss to dry and sift through at home. He says "On land search all moist and shady spots, especially during and after rain, under logs, stones, among dead leaves and decaying vegetations, among nettles and healthy vegetation, on the bark of trees and at their roots among the moss, on old stone walls, and in damp cellars."

"No ponds or ditches should be passed without examination, however barren they may appear; and not only should the weeds be examined, but the mud should be sifted with a scoop in search of bivalves."
 "It may be remembered that peaty soils yield little or nothing..."
"Sand hills by the sea are very favourite habitats for [certain species]..."
"Calcareous districts are always fruitful, especially pure chalk, while granite and shale are not."  He also rejects "the desolate and repulsive millstone-grit districts" [!] as barren.


This page will give you encouragement about your success in collecting from autumn to spring. And given the British climate, it will not surprise you that Adams said "many of my most successful days have been spent in pouring rain."

The Conchological Society has lists of snaily habitats and the species you might find there (though at present, these are bare lists with no pictures).

Also you can read my general remarks on collecting - and bear in mind the principles in the Joint Committee for the Conservation of British Invertebrates' code of conduct. Get permission, take empty shells where possible, don't take more specimens than you need, and do as little damage to the habitat as you can. Only a few mollusc species are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. They're rare and so you're unlikely to come across them - but it doesn't hurt to be aware of which they are. The Conch Soc has a list and some advice about that too.

You'll probably find lots of empty shells, but make sure they are empty (or they will stink very badly if they turn out not to be). If you find it necessary, there's advice about dealing with despatching snails and removing their bodies here (sorry).