Reveal that Metazoan! Adorable Snail Onna Tree Edition

We’ve had a very mild winter, even verging on ridiculously warm at times. Even the gray days haven’t been horribly cold, so B and I would sometimes wander about even if it was gloomy. Thus, this January baby snail on a paper birch I shall now show you.

Image shows a very small snail woking its way down a paper birch trunk. It's on a white bit of bark, headed for a buff-colored freshly-peeled part.
Awww! It’s so little!

I had to stop and take twelve million photos, of course, because it was totes adorbs.

Another image of the snail, which is a golden color with dark stripes.
Snail onna birch. Tres cute!

This particular park along North Creek has a lovely line of paper birches. I go nuts for these things. I’ve been a fan of paper since I was a little kid, and the idea of a tree that has paper-thin bark you can actually peel off and write on makes me squee. It’s one of my favorite things ever. I could probably have occupied my entire afternoon peeling the thin, crackly bark off of the birch that had blown down, but I try not to make B suffer for my obsessions. He did have to indulge me several minutes of enthusiastic peeling.

I know. I’m weird. Here, look at the snail again, it’ll make you feel better.

Image is a side-view of the snail, very close up, showing the light shining through its shell.
Lookit! It’s so young it’s basically transparent!

And the texture of that bark. Delicious! Oops, I probably shouldn’t use that adjective near a critter whose relatives may have been escargot. Although I doubt this is an escargot-type snail. But aren’t some places overrun with the descendants of snails that were brought over and raised specifically because they’re good for escargot? I’d swear I’ve heard that somewhere.

All I can say is, nobody’d better make escargot out of this adorable baby!

The snail has made it onto the buff-colored part of the trunk. It's a narrow strip peeled out of the white trunk.
On to the strip.

I love how smooth the bark is on those buff-colored, freshly-peeled bits. So soft! I’ll bet it feels good on a snail’s foot, too.

For those who love the bark as much as I do, here is a close-up with snail, showing the neato patterns. I’m not sure what those rough oblongs accomplish. Anybody here a tree expert?

Image shows the snail nearing the buff strip.
Snail, old bark, and fresh bark.

I love it.

Anyway, I’m sure this is some common garden-variety snail, but if anyone cares to identify the exact species, perhaps we can learn a bit of their history. You can find more pictures here. And, for our final photo, I’ll show you just how eensy-weensy this little delight is.

Image shows the snail with my index finger beside it. It's tiny enough it would fit entirely on my nail.
Yep, it would fit on my index fingernail with room to spare. OH FER CUTE!

Daw!

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Reveal that Metazoan! Adorable Snail Onna Tree Edition
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