It is not good to have snail in house as it will be a nuisance and unwelcoming sight for residents and visitors. They do not create any physical damage to us. However , they could create a major impact to your gardens and flower beds. They could create large holes in leaves in your plants. However snails are essential species in the food web as some mammals , birds, slow worms, and earthworms feed on them.
Even though snails mainly prefer to attack the vegetation, chances are that they would end up settling in your home as well. They would usually arrive in your place searching for warmth and food. Nobody likes to have these nuisance creatures in their home.
Hence it is vital that you know how to keep them at bay. So, this article would be interesting for those who are suffering from the snail menace.
Why are there snail in house?
Snails are attracted to so many things such as vegetation, darker and moist places. As aforesaid, they may enter your house to fulfill their nutrient’s requirements. They and and will eat any leaves. Besides, they would fulfill their dietary requirements by eating the decaying organic material, green vegetables such as lettuce, zucchini, kale , spinach, and cucumbers. Hence if there are any leftovers in your kitchen, it would make your home more attractive for the snails.
Moreover, snails prefer to feed on the algae and on mold as well. You can find mold commonly indoors particularly in damp and humid spots at your home.
Hence if there are any algae in your walls you should remove them whenever you spot any. Moreover, they love the dark corners of your home. These are nocturnal animal species. They prefer to stay in hidden dark areas of your home and hide from the sunlight.
However, snails would usually relocate once they have a good sleep. In that circumstance you can spot only their slimy trail or the mucus.
Snails may enter your home in search of shelter in a damp and humid place. For instance, you can commonly find them in your bathrooms, kitchens, toilets, pipes etc. Snails tend to bathe whenever they find any humid environment in your home so that they can prevent them drying out.
How Do Snails and Slugs Get Inside the House
These slimy creatures would enter your house through several routes. What they usually do is squeeze themselves through the holes in your wall.
- They can come through floor crack or in any tiny cracks in the sealing.
- Furthermore, they can invade your house through the water pipes and openings in doors.
- Snails may enter your home through open windows, air vents or even from the gaps between the door and the floor.
- If there are any leaves closer to the windows, there is a high tendency for the snails to enter.
If you have a garden closer to your house where there are plenty of plants, flowers , there is a high probability for the snails to enter your home. Literally the more vegetation you have inside your home, the easier it would be for the snails to invade.
Are slugs in the house dangerous?
Slugs do not create any risk for humans. Having said that they would be a nuisance when they invade your house. With that being said, the infected snails can transmit the rat lungworms to humans. Further, they create significant damage for your vegetation
Are snails harmful?
Snails are not harmful to humans directly. However, they create great damage for the crops. If you have vegetation around your house, snails can reduce the crop yield.
Moreover, they would be harmful for water features such as fish tanks and ponds. These are parasitic creatures, and they can create a fatal impact on the fish they find in the ponds and tanks. Snail reproduction rate is rapid, and it would create defects in the pool filters and in pipes.
Besides, they can also spread disease. They may in fact carry disease and parasitic worms. For example, schistosomiasis could be something very dangerous for pets and for humans and snails carry these contaminants. Hence if you have snails hanging around your house, it will put your health at risk.
Do snails bite humans?
Snails cannot bite you. However, they can use their toothed tongue to run over your skin. In that circumstance you might feel it like a bite. Snails are not the type of animals which will break your skin or draw blood. In fact, they are harmless, innocent animal species. They will never attack you. They might feel like your hand is food and they would want to taste it. As such you should not have any fear whenever you get in contact with a snail.
Why do snails climb house walls?
To avoid predators
Snails climb the house walls to avoid the predators. If they stay on the ground itself, ground beetles, ground feeding birds such as song thrushes’ turkeys’ rodents’ squirrels, mice, song thrushes and raccoons would eat them.
Moreover, if there are large snails such as the African land snails, bigger animals have a tendency to eat them too .There is a probability for the snails to be victims of the birds Despite them climbing up to walls. However, it is harder for them to attack the snails since they will be on a vertical space and not on a flat surface.
To eat
They may climb the walls to eat the walls. Moreover, the changes in weather also impact the snails and consequently they would climb the house walls to cool downs and to find moisture. Further they climb the walls in search of food. They would try to reach high walls so that they can fulfill their dietary requirements
They use elements such as fungi, algae, moss , bacteria, bird droppings, insects , wood lice etc. In addition to that, snails tend to eat the plants in the hanging baskets too. They use their upper feelers to identify the smells of these.
Moreover, there are snails who climb up the wall to eat the walls as well. It could be paint, stucco or even concrete on the walls. If the snails are lacking calcium, they do that to fulfill the same. Usually, they obtain the calcium by consuming vegetations, spinach broccoli, fungi, and algae. So, if they find any entry points, chances are that they would end up eating your indoor plants or any other mold which they can find in your home.
To escape cold
On the other hand, they may do that to escape the cold as well. There are people who have witnessed the snails have climbed up to a height which is about 6 feet. However, they would not stay at those places constantly. Instead, they would climb the windows, fences, and the poles as well.
To avoid squashed
Apart from this, snails tend to climb up the walls so that they will not get squashed. Further they do that to avoid being stood on. If they keep staying in the ground, there is a potential for the passer by to stand on those and crush the shell. Snail shell is very useful for them, as it protects them from predators. If it gets damaged, they cannot repair the shell and it would even result in the death of them.
To look for moist air
In addition to that, snails tend to climb up the walls to look for moisture in the air. Snails require moistness for their survival. If there is a dry environment around, snails cannot produce mucus and consequently it would disable them in crawling around.
Further it will make them dry out. Usually, moist hot air rises during intensely hot days due to evaporation and it will make the snails climb up the walls as they go in search of humid spots. Besides they tend to climb up the walls to avoid flooded areas also.
To cool down and hibernate
They would climb the walls to cool down. Once the ground conditions get warm , they want to cool down. In that case, they tend to climb walls. When there is a hot and dry summer, snails reach summer hibernation. It is called estivation. They try to reach a point where they can stay happy.
That will allow them to seal their shells with a mucus plug. Snails will be hibernating for winter and most of the time they end up climbing the walls for this purpose. This is one of their survival modes during winter.
To die
Lastly, snails may climb up the walls to die. However, the reason for that is yet to be discovered. However, it is said that they do this to warn the rest of other snails if they are suffering from a fungal disease. Further as per some studies they climb the walls before they perish. Once they perish, they release the fungal spores into the air.
Further, as per some studies conducted, snails tend to climb the walls if they take any poison. Once they climbed up to the wall, that would give off a chemical scent for the rest of other snails to notify on the risk. That will let those snails be aware of the potential risk.
What happens if a snail touches you?
It will not pose any threat if you touch a snail if they are not infected themselves. Snails may look harmless, however they may contain certain parasites. If you ever get in contact with snails, ensure that you wash your hands properly. You need to practice good hygiene.
However, if you ingest an infected snail, it may result in a form of meningitis. The severity of meningitis may vary depending on the parasites you ingest. Chances are that it can be fatal too. However, it could take place very rarely. If humans eat raw snails, chances are that they may suffer from these conditions. It would not happen from simple contact.
How to get rid of snails in house permanently
The most important thing you need to do to get rid of the snails permanently is to identify the entry point of them. You may use a flashlight to spot the slime trails of the snails. You can use those marks and identify their access points. Seal all the gaps you may come across to get rid of the snails. Simply you need to seal all the gaps you can find around the windows, doors and on foundations. You can use elements such as caulk, silicone sealant to seal the small cracks.
You may use expanding foam to seal the larger cracks. It is effective and anybody can afford doing it. Moreover, it is safe for the kids as well.
However, this is not something which you could do to get rid of the snails who are already in the house. Next you may use bait. Simply you can fill a shallow bowl with beer and locate in the places where you suspect the snails will be present. It could be under the refrigerator or closer to the potted plants. However, be cautious if you have kids at your home and ensure that you place it somewhere where the kids cannot access them.
You need to constantly keep checking on this and refresh it with fresh bait when it is necessary. This is also an effective way of getting rid of the snails.
Besides these options, you can get the service of pest control specialists to get rid of the snails. They would come and inspect the snail infestation first. Next, they will treat and keep following up on the progress.
Finally
Before wrapping this up, I hope this article gives you a broader view of snail attacks in your home, the modes of getting rid of them and how harmful they could be.
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