Wijngaardslakken Helix pomatia vastgelopen in dassenraster

Over 20 shells of the Roman snail Helix pomatia were found stuck in the lowest 50 cm of a galvanized metal grid of 5 m long, erected to guide badgers to a tunnel crossing a road. During summer this part of the fence is surrounded by rough herbage. A much longer part of the grid without herbage had caught only a few shells. Insertion of the shells in the grid by man or an animal is considered unlikely. It is hypothesized that a living snail tries to move forward through a mesh in the grid by pulling on plants in front of it, thereby locking its shell in the mesh and making the return impossible. Eventually the snail will withdraw in its shell, dry out and die. The remnants of the animal will be consumed by scavengers.