A nature conservation blog about the fauna and flora of Wilden Marsh Nature Reserve and Site of Special Scientific Interest in the Lower Stour Valley, Worcestershire, England.
A nature conservation blog about the fauna and flora of Wilden Marsh Nature Reserve and Site of Special Scientific Interest in the Lower Stour Valley, Worcestershire, England.
I can eat raw nettles, without them stinging me. It is a foragers trick!
Well, there’s a few foragers tricks with Nettle, here’s some Snail Wisdom! One, stay away from the stingers on the bottom side of the leaf, topside lays down easier. Two, enough steady pressure deactivates hairs. Three, once hairs are touched and de-activated, they’re fine to eat, even raw! Four, a snail has logistics that fall within these parameters to get from leaf to leaf, as the picture demonstrates.
We Professional Foragers love to shock classes of students by eating raw nettles in front of them. This snail wisdom applies to us too, we get an ooh and ahhh’s from the class, but what folks aren’t really paying attention to is we’re folding the leaf over and applying a light pressure, the leaf goes into my mouth with hairs deactivated and then chewed very well. 🙂
I always feel a little funny after sharing snail secrets, like somehow, I just violated some code of silence.
Thanks for this interesting post. Snail mucus neutralises histamine and other irritating chemicals present in the nettle sting formula, and is very good for ironing out facial wrinkles. A woman’s morning ritual should include rubbing a snail over her face. 🙂
Not long ago, i walked through groves of nettles with shorts on. It hurt enough, but i was fine. It takes more than nettles to keep me out of the woods! 😉
The Wilden Marsh Blog 
I’m guessing not. Their slime probably stops it
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Good guess, Alastair! 🙂
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😀
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Not enough detail, Alastair. The answer is slime related, but how?
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No idea. I’m not a sluggy person.
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What a gorgeous snail.
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It is, Maralee.
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[ Smiles ] Apparently, not!.
Great photo!
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I don’t know but nettles stung me today, and a wasp stung me in the face too.
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Rub a snail’s foot on the bit and sting, Alex.
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I can eat raw nettles, without them stinging me. It is a foragers trick!
Well, there’s a few foragers tricks with Nettle, here’s some Snail Wisdom! One, stay away from the stingers on the bottom side of the leaf, topside lays down easier. Two, enough steady pressure deactivates hairs. Three, once hairs are touched and de-activated, they’re fine to eat, even raw! Four, a snail has logistics that fall within these parameters to get from leaf to leaf, as the picture demonstrates.
We Professional Foragers love to shock classes of students by eating raw nettles in front of them. This snail wisdom applies to us too, we get an ooh and ahhh’s from the class, but what folks aren’t really paying attention to is we’re folding the leaf over and applying a light pressure, the leaf goes into my mouth with hairs deactivated and then chewed very well. 🙂
I always feel a little funny after sharing snail secrets, like somehow, I just violated some code of silence.
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Thanks for this interesting post. Snail mucus neutralises histamine and other irritating chemicals present in the nettle sting formula, and is very good for ironing out facial wrinkles. A woman’s morning ritual should include rubbing a snail over her face. 🙂
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Great photo.
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Thanks, Vicki.
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No clue what a “nettles” is but great photo!
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Thanks, Roberto. Living in South Florida, knowledge of stinging nettles will not be of any use to you.
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Not long ago, i walked through groves of nettles with shorts on. It hurt enough, but i was fine. It takes more than nettles to keep me out of the woods! 😉
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It the north end of the marsh are 8 foot high stinging nettles.
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