Fort Creek

17.5 km Marker

Snails

Snail · Escargot · Biimiskodisii

A snail. Photo: User:Mad_max / Wikimedia Commons / CC-BY-SA-3.0

Keep your eyes peeled, and look high and low for snails in hollow logs and under leaves. Snails can be as tiny as a grain of sand, but they play a vital role in the ecosystem. Their diet of rotting vegetation, mushrooms, and soil recycles nutrients back into the food chain. Snail use calcium from their food to build their shells, which grow with them during their lives. Many birds rely on a large diet of calcium-rich snails to lay strong, healthy eggs. Next time you enjoy the songs of birds, remember to thank the snails!

Health Tips with Hearty Artie!

hearty artie

Although you can’t swim here, look for signs posted at beaches for warnings concerning bacteria, algae blooms or swimmer’s itch before heading into the water.

Challenge Yourself!

  • Quiz
  • Draw
  • Think

  • Test your knowledge

  • Question 1

    What is one difference between snails and slugs?

  • Question 2

    When are snails most active?



  • Did you know?

    Snails retreat into their shells and seal the entrance during nice weather so they don’t dry up!

  • Question 3

    What animals eat snails (besides birds)?

  • You did great!

Can You Draw?

Draw or write out your own food chain. (Hint: vegetation –> small animal –> large animal)

Think about it…

How would the ecosystem change if there weren’t any snails?

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17.5 km Marker

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  • Fort Creek
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