The first thought that comes to the mind of many folk when they see a snail is "YUK!!", an honest first reaction as being a gastropod their very way of life is bizarre. When one assesses the close relation to Sea snails/mollusces then continued on to shelled creatures such as muscles/clams the common snail is not so far from the oyster many love to eat.
It is a little known fact that Helix aspersa, is the exact breed of snail used in the French dish Escargot. It is even less known that this species was spread by humans to most Europeans countries also finding its way to our and New Zealand's shores. It is not known whether they were brought here as a food source, or if they stowed away on ships in search of greener pastures.
It is very widely introduced elsewhere in the world and its non-native distribution includes other parts of Europe: Bohemia in the Czech Republic since 2008, southern Africa, North America and southern South America. It was introduced to California as a food animal in the 1850s and is now a notorious agricultural pest there, especially in citrus groves.
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