Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site amdahl.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!allegra!oliveb!3comvax!bnrmtv!amdahl!ems From: ems@amdahl.UUCP (ems) Newsgroups: net.cooks Subject: Re: Snails from the yard Message-ID: <2181@amdahl.UUCP> Date: Fri, 1-Nov-85 13:24:32 EST Article-I.D.: amdahl.2181 Posted: Fri Nov 1 13:24:32 1985 Date-Received: Sun, 3-Nov-85 06:33:08 EST References: <388@drutx.UUCP> Organization: Circle C Shellfish Ranch, Shores-of-the-Pacific, Ca Lines: 30 > >There seem to be many snails around my house and this year, instead > >of trying to poison them I am going to collect them and eat them. > > You might not want to do that. The snails that you eat in restaurants > are a particular variety (a tree snail from France). It is very possible > that the ones in your yard are poisonous--or at least yucky tasting. > I am not sure where the original poster lives; but folk wisdom (rumor?) in California holds that the snails which consume our gardens were introduced by the French as a food source. Prior to that there were none here. Major worry factors should be parasites, diseases, and what Mr. Snail had for breakfast. Purging and cooking well should do it. There was even an interview with someone from France on a local radio show. He makes a business out of having folks catch snails here that he buys, purges, and sends to France. As I remember it, one should look for mature snails where the shell lip has started to curl back somewhat (The better to mate with...) Any mollusc-ologists out there who can give us a true story of 'The Snail in America' ?? -- E. Michael Smith ...!{hplabs,ihnp4,amd,nsc}!amdahl!ems 'If you can dream it, you can do it' Walt Disney This is the obligatory disclaimer of everything. (Including but not limited to: typos, spelling, diction, logic, and nuclear war)