I do not own any books on snails, so this research had to take place entirely on the Internet.  As with all identifications, I’m not sure if I got it right but I think I now know what it is and I learned a bit about how to identify snails.

Snails, as one would expect, are identified by their shells.  There are a number of characteristics that go into identifying a snail.  Some things include.

• Width of the shell in millimeters
• The number of whorls in the shell.  Whorls are the number of times the shell ‘wraps around’ and is plainly visible in the shot above, which has three and a half whorls.  There is a good diagram here.
• The shape of the shell.  Is it flattened or elongated with an apex?
• Does the shell have an umbilicus?  This is the small little ‘loop’ in the center of the shell.  The example above does have one.
• Whether the shell is ‘left handed’ or ‘right handed.’

Some excellent illustrations can be found here.

The site mentioned above is also where I think I have determined the type of snail.  This appears to be the garlic snail, also called the glass snail, Oxychilus alliarius.

At first I was a bit skeptical, as this site covers the UK.  However particularly here in the Pacific Northwest there are a number of travelers from the British Isles, so perhaps it made its way here.  After some research, this appears to be true.

The interesting thing about these snails is they supposedly smell like garlic if you pick them up and smell them.  I have to admit that I have yet to try this, but might try it out the next time to see if this hypothesis is true.

Even if I got it wrong, I learned a bit about identifying snails so it’s not a total loss!

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Literally a few meters away from the path, I noticed a strange sign.  There was no path down to the side, but not much in terms of brush preventing one from taking a look, so I decided to see what it said.  What I found, sitting on the Microsoft campus in a spot where even we weren’t familiar with, was a new world that I am just beginning to explore.

The sign mentioned that about one hundred years ago, someone built a mill on the very spot I was standing.  The mill was later moved and little remains on the site to prove that it was there, save several small ponds.  These small ponds are teeming with life, and I knew that I would be spending a great number of lunch hours investigating this area.  I quickly went back to my office and e-mailed the photography alias at work.  The next day we had a mini event there, without perhaps eight of us photographing.  I suspect that some of them may have been disappointed – nothing is in bloom yet and from first looks the area seems rather lifeless and dull.  Of course, this was far from the case.

I’m not sure what the thing pictured above is.  Given the number of pincers on the front I certainly wouldn’t want to come across it as prey.  The following is a wider shot of it.

I found a number of cute snails there.  This one I found just before leaving.

Here’s another one of the same species burrowed into a log.  I’m not sure exactly how it wound up in this position.

I also found a very interesting ant in a log.  Unfortunately, among the number of shots I took of it none of them came out as I had hoped.  I am still trying to look up what species it is, but I suspect that I will need to purchase a better book on ants.  Off hand, my guess is it is some kind of carpenter ant – based solely on the fact that I found it in a log.  Interestingly enough, I did not find any similar ones in the vicinity.

Another member of our group found a wasp sitting on a log.  The wasp was good sized, but appeared to be either cold, sick, or dying.  It wasn’t very active, though still alive.  I didn’t take too many shots of it as there were a number of us interested in getting pictures of it.  Normally I fear wasps, but I kind of felt sorry for this one.

It obviously needs some Photoshopping, which I may do later.  The final interesting critter of the day was what I believe to be a harvestman.

All in all I believe the shoot was successful.  During subsequent lunches I expect to come back here and see what else I can find.  As it is very difficult to get the opportunity to shoot at places other than my backyard, I couldn’t have been more excited to find such an interesting location so close to work.

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