Snail Minibeast Adventure with Jess

Hello, adventurers! I'm Jess.

It's time for a Minibeast Adventure!

# Feelers out, what's about?

# Creeping, sleeping, under stones, here and there

# Nesting, resting, minibeasts are everywhere

# Minibeasts are everywhere, look and listen, stop and stare

# Minibeasts are everywhere, a Minibeast Adventure

# Feelers out, what's about?

# Minibeasts are everywhere, look and listen, stop and stare

# Miniworlds for us to share, a Minibeast Adventure

# With Jess! #

Welcome to my tree house. Today, we're having a snail adventure.

Snails are one of the easiest minibeasts to spot.

You can find them almost everywhere, especially when it's been raining.

And they're quite big...

for a minibeast.

Have a look at these.

Snails have soft, slimy bodies which are protected by a shell.

The snail's body is actually one big foot

and it moves along by rippling its muscles.

It makes a slimy track to slide along.

If a snail wants to hide away,

it can tuck its whole body into its shell.

A snail has four tentacles.

Can you see them popping out?

The short two are for feeling, tasting and smelling.

The longer two have eyes on the end of them.

But snails actually can't see very well, they just see light and dark.

The shell is really clever.

As the snail grows, the shell grows, too.

So when a baby snail hatches, it has a tiny little shell.

Look, this baby is a teeny tiny version of an adult snail.

Its shell is very soft and fragile when it's small,

so you have to be really careful if you pick them up.

It takes about two years for a snail to grow to be an adult.

I'm sure you've got a snail living near you.

Maybe it's a baby, maybe it's an adult.

Shall we go and see?

Come on.

Whatever the weather, we're off together on a Minibeast Adventure!

-Hi, Amelia. Hi, Leah.

-Hi, Jess.

-Hi, Jess.

Thank you so much for letting me come to your house today,

because we're going to have a snail adventure.

What are snails like?

They have slime behind them and they've got shells.

-They have got shells, yes.

-In case they get scared.

-Yes, to hide in.

-Brilliant.

-And they've got mummies.

-Yeah.

-And daddies.

-And two sisters.

Are we going to find a big snail family today?

Have you got your feelers ready?

ALL: Feelers out, what's about?

We're off on a Minibeast Adventure.

-Be very careful.

-I will be very careful.

We have to be very careful when we're looking for minibeasts.

-I can see one right there.

-Can you? Where?

-In there.

I think he's sleeping in his shell.

Oh, shall we have a look?

-Let's hold him.

-Can you get it?

Oh, it's an empty shell.

-I think he's moved out.

-He's moved out? Oh.

And he's finding another shell.

-Shall we see if we can find any snails that are at home?

-Yeah.

-Let's keep looking, then.

-I'm going to have a look here.

-Here. There's one right there.

-Oh, look at this one, Leah.

-It's climbing up the wall.

-Yeah, look, Leah. Oh, my goodness.

-Oh, that's a...

-Don't touch it.

Oh, look at the eyes coming out.

-He's scared.

-Oh, he's scared?

What does he do when he's scared?

He hides like this.

Yes, he does.

-Is it tickly?

-Oh!

-Can I get another one?

-OK, yeah.

It's there. It's right in there.

Oh, my goodness, there's two. Oh, look how many are in there.

Their mum's on there.

It's the snail family.

The snail family!

-How many are there?

-Let it get down.

We haven't even seen them there.

Look at this one, this is a little one.

He's a bubbly one and he's a little baby one.

That is a baby one.

How do you think that little baby one gets to this big?

-He gets on this.

-I think he's going to eat the lettuce.

Lettuce? They do eat lettuce, yes.

-Eat lettuce.

-Come on, eat your lettuce.

He says, "Hello, Daddy."

Oh, do you think that's its daddy?

-They're really nice.

-They are really nice, aren't they?

They're going to stay in our garden.

Snails' shells are their homes

and they always carry them around on their backs.

Imagine if you carried your home around with you all the time. Phew!

Phew!

Shall I tell you a really cool snail fact?

Snails have thousands of teeth.

So I thought we could feed some snails today

and then we might get a chance to see their mouths

and maybe even their teeth.

-Would you like to help me do that?

-Yeah.

What we have here is some snail soup.

-Ew.

-Ew!

It's not made of snails though, it's what snails eat.

-It's lettuce all mushed up with water.

-Can I have these?

You do need that, yes,

because you're going to paint some of this soup

onto the side of this tank here,

and then the snails are going to climb up.

And when we look through, we should be able to see them eating.

If they like it lots, we'll see lots of teeth.

Are they going to like it?

-Like this?

-Yeah.

I hope they're going to like it, I think they are. That looks perfect.

Shall we put some snails in now?

So here's one for Amelia,

-here's one for Leah...

-That one's not coming out.

..and here's one for Jess.

-Is my one coming out?

-And yours.

-There's his... That's his mouth.

-That is his mouth.

Look at that, what does it look like?

I think that's its teeth, the black bits.

Yeah, I think it is, but they're quite difficult to see.

What's yours doing, Amelia?

He's going really slow, he's not that fast.

Yours is really fast.

Mine's eating it all, look at that. Gulp, gulp.

-Let's see if they go right to the top.

-OK.

Oh, yours is eating now, Leah.

Mine's going to get fat, my one.

He's got enough from down there.

Do you think they like the snail soup?

They want more.

They've eaten lots and lots, haven't they?

Gulp, gulp.

Wasn't it amazing to see those snails eating?

I loved seeing their mouths.

Maybe you could go on a snail adventure, too.

Look for them in cool, damp places.

You can even have a go at feeding them yourself.

But if you do, remember, always put them back at the end.

Feelers out, what's about?

Happy hunting, adventurers!