All hail the giant snail!

 

All hail the giant snail! A rare find indeed, and one I'd never seen one before, an adult (they can take up to 5 years to mature!) Roman or edible snail (Helix pomatia) and I'd have probably passed it by with my head in the clouds if it hadn't been pointed out to me by my friend. Helix pomatia has recently been afforded protected species status (2008); it's a species which favours open woodland or rough grassland, particularly chalkland and is most likely spotted between May to August in, or just after, rain. Introduced by the Romans after the conquest it's quiet apt that this one should be living so close to the Badbury Rings to Old Sarum Roman road; I wonder if his/her family have been here all that time? They're known not to travel far, they may well spend their entire life living within a 30m radius. It was common place for roadside stalls to spring up along the course of Roman roads to service travelers, maybe there was a roadside fast food outlet nearby in the early centuries AD; no, really, titter ye not (I wonder how accessible that reference is?).