Slow hazard on new cycle route

Wed 22 Jun 2011, 13:26

Unbelievably, I actually spotted one in my front garden yesterday.
Having seen them when I went on the Annual Boundary Walk the other week, I had no problem in identifying it!
So they obviously have travelled some distance over time!

Sun 19 Jun 2011, 23:05

You're not getting mixed up with 30 mtrs square compared to 30 metres on a side are you? I'd have thought 6x5 quite reasonable for a big snail.

Sat 18 Jun 2011, 18:37

There is a good picture showing comparison with a common garden snail at www.uksafari.com/romansnail.htm (Not the one at the top of the page - you need to scroll down a little and click on the thumbnail).
Tony

Fri 17 Jun 2011, 21:59

I read somewhere that each Roman snail keeps to a territory of about 30 square metres - presumably observed 'in the field' by someone with a great deal of patience. We have come across them down near the river, and I was able to dissuade one from continuing with its intention to cross Park Road the other day, which presumably would have led to another casualty. Given the speed with which they travel, or don't as the case may be, the 30 square metres actually seems a bit generous, but maybe the ones we saw were just tired ....

Fri 17 Jun 2011, 21:47 (last edited on Fri 17 Jun 2011, 21:48)

You can't. But here is a picture I took a couple of years ago. db.tt/pBRFooB

Fri 17 Jun 2011, 20:45

how do i post a picture on the forum

Fri 17 Jun 2011, 20:02

Anyone care to post a picture of them?

Fri 17 Jun 2011, 16:42

The snails have certainly wandered further than just the small area along the footpath: on the Annual Parish Boundary walk we frequently find numbers of them when passing along on the opposite side of the river (from Cornbury Drive towards Fawler Mill), and along the edge of the field once we have passed under the railway. I've also seen one near the top of the Cornbury drive.
Since 2008 when they were designated as a protected species I have made a point of reminding walkers that they tread on them at their peril!
Tony

Fri 17 Jun 2011, 15:33

The snails are so localised too. The habitat seems very consistent over the length of that path, yet the snails are only in a small area towards one end. If they were brought over by the Romans, you'd think they would have been widespread by now.

It's tempting, and rather appealing, to think that they are home-loving creatures who never moved far from their original point of escape from Roman custody, and that these snails' ancestors were brought over and eaten by the soldiers who were building practice forts on a site only a few hundred yards away in what is now Cornbury Park, or perhaps camped nearer than that on a site or sites we can no longer identify, perhaps a few yards away beside the stream that was dammed to create the lakes.

Thu 16 Jun 2011, 17:18

Andrew, thank you. I've seen the snails when walking the dog on the public footpath over Cornbury but didn't know what they were (well apart from being snails of course!) They really are huge.

Thu 16 Jun 2011, 15:26

Thanks Jon. It would be good if Blenheim allowed more cycling too.

Thu 16 Jun 2011, 14:44

With the landowner's permission, it seems OK: this is from the Ramblers website...

Pedal cyclists have a right to use bridleways, restricted byways and byways open to all traffic, but on bridleways they must give way to walkers and riders. Like horse riders, they have no right to use footpaths and if they do so they are committing a trespass against the owner of the land, unless use is by permission. As with horse-riding, use of any right of way by cyclists can be controlled by traffic regulation orders and byelaws imposed by local authorities. Infringement of byelaws or orders is a criminal offence. Under the Highways Act 1835, it is an offence to ride a bicycle on the pavement at the side of a road, and under the Fixed Penalty Offences Order 1999 a person who rides on a pavement can be fined on the spot by a police officer.

Thu 16 Jun 2011, 13:57

Great news about the trial permissive cycle route across Cornbury (see http://www.charlbury.info/cgi-bin/dnews.cgi?id=831). My wife walks that route to work, and warns though to watch out for the rare Roman snails that are to be found (one has been squashed already, but whether by boot or wheel is not recorded). (See natbat.net/2006/Aug/16/rare-roman-snails-on-the-loose/ for a friend's blog article on them 5 years ago.)

While I'm on the subject, I'm just curious out of interest: the route was agreed between Cornbury and the cycling group, but aren't footpaths administered by councils? Or does the landowner have the right to allow extra traffic on them?