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Garden snail with a difference

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Odd-looking snail

Lidy Verweel took this picture and the one following, using a RICOH Caplio RR30 camera.

There's a certain beauty about snails; going about their business after rain, their movement is unhurried and graceful. Nevertheless, they can be maddening; a row of seedlings might vanish overnight, and sometimes it seems that every flower pot has a congregation of snails in it, under it or around it.

The silvery slime with which snails leave a Hansel and Gretel trail across paths does double duty; when conditions are too dry for their comfort, they find a secluded place, withdraw into the shell and use the slime to make a waterproof "door". As soon as there's enough moisture about, out they come, none the worse for a quiet time without food.

This snail, though, has an added extra—what you might call a third eye!