So, there you are on a damp spring or summer morning, out for a stroll along the river wall at the reserve and you find yourself tiptoeing around hundreds of variously coloured small snails heading in every which direction as they make the most of the moistness to explore further afield.
Some are dark or pink and plain, some are yellow with dark stripes, others a mixture of all three colours. At first glance they may appear to be of many different species due to the variety in colours but in fact the colour is of no consequence and there are in fact just two species sliming their way across the paths...
It's all about the lips don't ya know....
Pick one up (or get down real low!) and have a look at the coloured band at the lip of the shell where the actual snail comes out from. Some will be Dark lipped and other White lipped and thus you have correctly identified both our species of banded hedge snail.....
Easy when you know how!
Dark lipped on the left and two White lipped.....a lovely low level shot from John Daly.
20-4-14