Snail Trail

Saturday, April 14, 2007
Amy has successfully collected 47 snails, including Baby Norris and Grandpa Gary. They are currently taking their leisure in a water table that is maintained as close to their natural environment as possible. They must survive the aclimation period before the actual experiment may start. Fingers crossed!

Sunday, April 15, 2007
All 47 snails are still alive and aclimating beautifully. After they've had an appropriate amount of time to prove they are surviving their new environment, Amy will begin the actual experiment - feeding them fresh seaweed and seaweed that has begun to decompose (as a result of warming trends).

I wonder what is going on in their little snaily heads...

Monday, April 16, 2007 9 a.m.
Apparently, what is going through their minds is ESCAPE! With one day left to go before feeding can commence, the snails have gone looking for a snaily version of Burger King. One was caught in the act of escaping as it clung to the outside wall of the water table; a frantic search uncovered two more on the floor, nearly dead. They have now been branded R (for refugee) and they will be excluded from the experiment as it would be impossible to determine if any negative results to their health during the experiment were due to the conditions of the experiment or a weakened constitution from their nearly-fatal attempt to escape.

On the geriatric scene, Grandpa Gary tried to climb up the water inflow tube, but was recovered and appears unharmed by his adventure.

Monday, April 16, 2007 4:24 p.m.
Snails are proving more elusive than one would imagine for such slow-moving creatures. Now Baby Norris has disappeared! Since these are MARINE snails, one would expect them to prefer remaining in water, yes? Apparently not. Amy is beside herself...

Monday, April 16, 2007 5:21 p.m.
Woohoo! Baby Norris is back safe and sound! It isn't clear whether Amy just overlooked the little bugger earlier, but Norris is definitely back in residence, currently sitting on a rock looking as innocent as pie (by-the-by, in what way is pie innocent-looking?).

Amy claims it was the Playlist she created specifically for the recovery operation. Song titles included:

1. You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling (The Righteous Bros.)
2. You're Breakin' My Heart (Harry Nilsson)
3. With or Without You (U2)
4. Why Would I Cry for You? (Sting)
5. Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad? (Moby)
6. Wherever You Are (Laava)
7. The Wanderer (U2)
8. Who's Gonna Drive You Home (The Cars)
9. Where Have All the Cowboys Gone? (Paula Cole)
10. Whatever Happened (The Strokes)
11. We Looked Like Giants (Death Cab for Cutie)
12. Suddenly Everything Has Changed (Postal Service)
13. Honey (Bobby Goldsboro)
14. Homeward Bound (Simon and Garfunkel)
15. Hide and Seek (Imogen Heap)
16. Goodbye Stranger (Supertramp)
17. Goodbye (Natalie Embruglia)
18. Go it Alone (Beck)
19. Go the Distance (Roger Bart)
20. Get me away from here, I'm dying (Belle & Sebastian)
21. Freedom (David Gray)
22. Freak Me Out (Weezer)
23. Don't Leave Home (Dido)
24. Don't Know Why (Norah Jones)
25. Down to Sea (Doves)
26. Say Hello, Wave Goodbye (David Gray)
27. Don't Stop Believing (Journey)
28. Here She Comes Again (The Cars)
29. A Little Respect (Erasure)

In other news, I am going to try breathing through a snorkel in my bathtub tonight.

Tuesday, April 17, 1:00 p.m.
The snails appear to have learned their lesson - that escape is pointless and not a very pleasant experience for water-breathing creatures. All 47 are still alive and contained...at the moment.