SAMMY SNAIL JOINS THE AOG COMPETITION 2020

I was out in the garden early this morning working as we had decided as we are having a new fence very soon that a very large Weigela bush, that has done absolutely nothing for several years, was for "the chop".  

I worked solidly for almost four hours but this isn't a small or an easy job and will take quite a long time, because it also needs some input from Mr. HCB with his bow saw and pick axe.  There is also a large Pyracantha bush entangled with it, so I will have to be very careful, because it has extra long thorns. 

Whilst cutting, I noticed Sammy Snail - you probably know that most snails are "hermaphrodites", which means they can be both male and female at the same time, so Sammy could be short for Samuel or Samantha!  

Anyway, Sammy was moving along a piece of wood that was obviously put in to hold up the bush when it was very young.  I managed to remove the piece of wood and then watched as Sammy unwound itself and then began to slither along its length.

I thought it might be good to interview Sammy to find out any plans for the 1 Mile Race, but it kept going back into its little shell - so was obviously quite shy.  Eventually, however, it came out for long enough to be interviewed.

Sammy told me it had been training for quite some time and that its personal best was good enough to get it a Gold Medal in the Alternative Olympic Games Competition for 2020.  I then asked Sammy to tell me more about this and it explained that slithering 15 inches in 5 minutes was quite good, but required a lot of concentration - I said that most of the things that I did at the moment required a lot of concentration so I understood that completely!

Working it out, if Sammy continued at that rate, then it would be able to squirm and wriggle along and would cover 180 inches in an hour. 

Given that there are 63,360 inches in a mile, and going at the same rate, Sammy would be able to finish the Mile Race in 352 hours or 14.6666667 days.  However, it would need to keep up the training as the date of the race wasn't known as yet, so several hours training would be needed every day.

I asked Sammy how it managed to move at such a pace - was it anything to do with the slime?  Sammy explained that by generating a series of muscular pulses on its feet, it can propel itself along.  These waves of muscle contraction and relaxation travel along the central portion of its foot, going from its tail to his head.  As the waves move much faster than Sammy himself, they generate enough force to push it forward and therefore the slime isn't needed to help in this propulsion, which was interesting, as I assumed it would.

I told Sammy that I would be happy to be alongside for the next few days to give my support especially as I had been watching for over half an hour this morning and was intrigued by the movements.

I've just been out into the garden to check on Sammy and was told it is resting this afternoon and doesn't want to overdo it before the big race.  I did notice that at the base of the Weigela are lots of other snails, so I guess they may be aunties and uncles and may even go to the AOG and cheer Sammy on.  Watch this space to see how it does!

“The intriguing placidity 
     from the slothful pace 
          of a snail 
               is truly very peaceful. 
Our world is in need 
     of this calmness 
          to pacify itself” 
Munia Khan