Welcome to You Ask Andy

Richard Matwyshen, age 10, Rochoster,N.Y, for his question:

How is a babes snail born?

A parent snail is both a mother and  a father. It is mother to its own brood and father to the children of its mate. This makes the family life of the baby snail very complicated. Or it might be complicated if the little fellow knew about it. But chances are little Slowpoke will never meet either his mother or his father. He begins life as an egg which is almost always deserted to hatch for itself.

After the mating season, the; Mama and Papa snails go their separate ways. Both will lay eggs. Each mother is, of course, the father of the eggs laid by the other snail. The ordinary garden snail lays its eggs as it glides along. They are left behind in the shiny trail which the snail makes to help him glide along.

The eggs are left to hatch on the warm damp ground. Before hatching, each unborn snail feeds on the food stored inside the egg. The tiny creature looks like a miniature snail made of .;lass, for the shell begins to form even before Junior hatches. When quite ready, the little creature breaks out of his egg and eats the shell.

The egg shell provides the baby with lime, a substance he needs to build his shell. He loses his glassy look after his first meal and., small as he is, the young fellow is now ready to make his way in the world. He needs damp, fairly warm air and plenty of plant life.

Baby snails do not stand much of a chance in a dry climate. In the desert regions of the American Southwest, the parent snails go to extra trouble to get their children safely launched into the world. The eggs are not strewn. along the slimy path. They are kept under the mother snail's shell. Here everything is moist and cozy. The baby snails do not leave Mama's sheltering shell until they are old enough to cope with the dry desert.

All baby snails like moldy leaves because their favorite food is fungus, find most molds are fine threads of fungus plants. The little fellows soon find their own food, eat and grow. Gooey slime is given off under their bodies to provide a slippery path on which to glide. More gooey slime is given off from the back. This hardens and becomes shell.

The snail's shell is his house. He adds to it as he grows. In about two years he is fully grown and has added about five whorls to his graceful home. When things do not suit him, he pulls his head. and tail indoors. He hibernates through the winter and estivates through long desert droughts. When he goes indoors for a long rest, he plasters a filmy curtain over his doorway. This hardens into a papery screen. Mr. Snail and the moisture he needs are safely sealed inside.

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