I seem drawn to snails,they catch my eye. These snails, Cepaea hortensis (the white lipped snail ) are sprinkled through the trees at Rushden Lakes.
These snails can live for three years but they are often found on thrushes anvils where they have met their end .
They eat plants such as ragwort, nettles and hogweed and feed in the day when it is damp but often rest on trees.
Although they are hermaphrodite these snails mate with other snails, before mating occurs they each send a calcareous love dart into the other snail. The function of this is unclear. The eggs are laid in the soil.
A hungry thrush sitting on its anvil on the look out for snail lunch !
NATURE TABLE EXPLORER 