When ramblers in Surrey started to notice a severe lack of snails it was clear that something was a little snail-y.
However slow they were on the up take it seems that conservationists are urging the police to crack down on the illegal poaching of these tasty garden giants after an explosion of people collecting and selling these snails to French restaurants.
As reported by the Telegraph, Andy Keay, a member of WoodChip Conservation, said: “A lot of people say they are only snails. But they must be three to five years old to breed, so if you take them all out, you’re going to devastate the numbers very quickly. It makes me very angry.
He said he recently caught a poacher in the act carrying two “huge carrier bags full of snails”, adding: “I told him he was breaking the law, and I grabbed the bags, and the snails stayed.”
Roman snails are listed as a protected species making it illegal to capture or sell them, but despite this they often end up on continental menus cooked in garlic butter.
Roman snails are the largest snail species in the country, measuring about four inches in length, meaning that a 15kg haul could be worth £400.
These snails are making a pretty quick buck for being champions of slow.
By Phillip Andreas
(@BlessMeUltima)
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