Snail
We have used snails to predict the true course of love, cure warts and smooth out our wrinkles but our relationship with them is not always amicable as Brett Westwood discovers.
Snails have earned a terrible reputation among gardeners and growers as voracious pests – and yet these slow-moving molluscs have inspired both artists and writers, been made famous by a magic roundabout and provided us with food and sustenance for millennia. We have used snails to predict the true course of love, cure warts and smooth out our wrinkles (with varying degrees of success). As Brett Westwood discovers our relationship with them is multi-faceted and complex and so rather than evict them from your garden perhaps we should show them a little more respect. Producer Sarah Blunt
Podcast
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Natural Histories
Stories of nature’s impact on human culture and society through history.