Land Snail On Plant Stalk

Land Snail at Sequoyah and the Sign of Harvest

by

On a visit to Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma, I walked one of the trails. I noticed a shiny slime trail on a plant. I followed it with my eyes and spotted a land snail. It was making its way up the stalk of a plant that had recently been mowed.

Land Snail On Plant Stalk
A land snail climbs the stalk of a recently mowed plant at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge.

Photographing the Snail

I took out my camera, a Canon EOS 7D with a 100-400mm zoom lens. I approached the snail slowly and took photos and video. Getting close to wildlife in their own world is one of the things I love most about nature photography.

Snails as a Sign of Harvest

As I photographed the snail inching up the plant, I thought about snails as a sign of harvest time. Ancient Greek sources say farmers looked to snails for hints about the season. They watched the snails for the timing of the harvest.

The Greek poet Hesiod lived around 700 BC. In his agricultural calendar Works and Days, he wrote that snails climbing up stalks meant harvest time was near. Pliny the Elder recorded the same idea later, in his Natural History in the 1st century AD. He wrote that the “crop should be reaped when the snail ascends the stalks.”

So this little snail on a fresh-cut stalk looked like a sign of the end of summer. It pointed to harvest time, just as Hesiod observed some 2,700 years ago. That old link between snails and the ripening of crops gave the sighting extra meaning.

Moments like this are why I go out. A small snail crawling up a plant can turn a walk into an adventure. I feel fortunate to watch nature’s small moments in special places like the Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge. I have photographed land snails closer to home too. One crossed a tree limb in Land Snail Sliding Across Tree Limb, and another rested on a leaf in Land Snail on a Leaf Along an Arkansas Forest Road. I cannot wait to see what I will spot on my next visit.

Gear Used:

  • Camera: Canon EOS 7D
  • Lens: Canon EF 100–400 mm f/4.5–5.6L IS I

Technical:

  • Location: Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge (Oklahoma)
  • Date Taken: September 27, 2013
  • Aperture: f5.6
  • Shutter speed: 1/640
  • ISO: 100
  • Exposure Compensation: 0
  • Focal Length: 400 mm