Tom, Dick, Harry, Bob and Bob
They were, perhaps, as wedding presents go, slightly unusual.
They came, along with some more conventional presents, from the delightful Ginny and Russ who run the wonderful Silent World aquarium in Tenby, South Wales.
Four Baby Giant African Land Snails in a little plastic box. They just needed to be kept warm and damp and fed on dandelion leaves and unwanted bills and other paper items.
So they were named Tom, Dick, Harry and Bob in, perhaps, a slightly sexist way. But since snails cover both genders anyway they didn't seem to mind.
Sadly, Bob failed to thrive. He never grew properly and finally, one day, there he wasn't - he'd gone to that big dandelion pasture in the sky, leaving only his little shell behind. Aaaaw.
But then we all went back to Tenby for the summer and found a huge tank of Bob-replacements in Silent World.
Two were chosen and both called Bob, for simplicity.
Tom, Dick, Harry, Bob and Bob grew, and moved into a bigger tank.
Here's Bob last night, on the glass of the tank, waving cheerily to you. You're looking at his underneath so you can't see his shell, but you can see his little mouth at the top.
Now that Tom, Dick, Harry, Bob and Bob are six months old they have been learning about the Facts of Life. And testing them out.
So, yesterday, we found these.
You're looking through the tank: on the bottom is a layer of damp compost with some leaves and melon rind on top - the snails like this too.
But the little white things that look like eggs - - well, they're eggs. Snail eggs.
Tom, Dick, Harry, Bob and Bob are going to be parents.
Are they happy? It's a bit hard to tell.
Here's Harry, and you can see a bit of his shell too. They're all about four inches long now, these snails, and may get bigger.
Now we've got to think of names for the babies.
No, since you ask, our family is not perhaps typical of The Average British Family. I could hear you wondering.
Go on, watch this video and you will have an endless topic of conversation for dinner parties. Though possibly fewer friends.
They came, along with some more conventional presents, from the delightful Ginny and Russ who run the wonderful Silent World aquarium in Tenby, South Wales.
Four Baby Giant African Land Snails in a little plastic box. They just needed to be kept warm and damp and fed on dandelion leaves and unwanted bills and other paper items.
So they were named Tom, Dick, Harry and Bob in, perhaps, a slightly sexist way. But since snails cover both genders anyway they didn't seem to mind.
Sadly, Bob failed to thrive. He never grew properly and finally, one day, there he wasn't - he'd gone to that big dandelion pasture in the sky, leaving only his little shell behind. Aaaaw.
But then we all went back to Tenby for the summer and found a huge tank of Bob-replacements in Silent World.
Two were chosen and both called Bob, for simplicity.
Tom, Dick, Harry, Bob and Bob grew, and moved into a bigger tank.
Here's Bob last night, on the glass of the tank, waving cheerily to you. You're looking at his underneath so you can't see his shell, but you can see his little mouth at the top.
Now that Tom, Dick, Harry, Bob and Bob are six months old they have been learning about the Facts of Life. And testing them out.So, yesterday, we found these.
You're looking through the tank: on the bottom is a layer of damp compost with some leaves and melon rind on top - the snails like this too.
But the little white things that look like eggs - - well, they're eggs. Snail eggs.
Tom, Dick, Harry, Bob and Bob are going to be parents.
Are they happy? It's a bit hard to tell.
Here's Harry, and you can see a bit of his shell too. They're all about four inches long now, these snails, and may get bigger.
Now we've got to think of names for the babies.
No, since you ask, our family is not perhaps typical of The Average British Family. I could hear you wondering.
Go on, watch this video and you will have an endless topic of conversation for dinner parties. Though possibly fewer friends.
posted by Daphne at 6:05 pm
3 Comments:
I watched the video. "if you keep more than one snail together they will breed rapidly and you could end up with five to six hundred snails in just one year"... and you've got five of them together. I think you might need a bigger tank or more tanks or perhaps you should just start a business and market those babies. You need to have a plan cos they're gonna keep on breeding.
How about the names of the children of Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska, the Republican candidate for U.S. Vice-Prsident on the ticket with Senator John McCain? You know, Track, Field, Bristol, Kingsport, and Johnson City!
And if you wind up with several hundred snail offspring, we have 100 senators, 435 representatives, 9 justices of the Supreme Court, and 50 governors,and they all would appreciate the publicity.
(N.B. to U.K. readers: The real names of the governor's children are Track, Trig, Bristol, Piper, and Willow. I was trying to make a funny. There is a "tri-cities" area in the state of Tennessee (Al Gore's home) composed of Bristol, Kingsport, and Johnson City. Oh well, maybe humo(u)r can't handle crossing an ocean.)
My daughter had a fish called Bob, because that was what he was saying as he swam around his tank. I got quite fond of Bob when she left home and I got to look after him and missed him when he died!! Good name for a pet Bob
Christine
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