Here’s a local snail that appeared the other day.  This specimen seems a bit out of sorts beyond the garden, but is a welcomed sign – it emerged after the storms.  At least this guy isn’t wreaking havoc on your vegetables and flowers.

Most of the time snails are seen as the scourge of gardeners, who try to make sure they don’t see the light of day.   In Oakbook, Ruby Blume recently advised readers to drown these destructive devils:

The best hope you have is to interrupt their breeding cycle.  Put on your headlamp and go out to your garden every night for two weeks to pick them off of the plants.  They mostly feed at night when it is cool, and if you water at dusk, more the better for snail hunting.  You can kill them by drowning them and they may then be added to your compost.  For a truly evil act, export them to your worst enemy’s garden.

For years, gardeners have tried to banish snails from local gardens.  They can destroy an entire plot!  Yet there’s something kind of sweet about this lone snail up on the concrete, just trying to catch a few rays like us.