I would just be quiet and let them be happy in their new home unless you can't stand their eating habits. May be I would take some of the infected dirt back to Morro bay. Is there an endangered snail in your area that they are threatening?

U.S. Fish and Wildlife might want to hear about that.

Interesting conundrum. I would like to say the removal of the original Jade plants was an illicit attempt to conceal the fact that this stand of Crassula ovata harbored the shoulderbanded snail. But Crassula ovata is a non-native species that should be removed, so if the snail goes with it, what can you do?

According to the link you provided, a population of unknown size lives in Morro Strand beach near the high school. Most of the population are to the South in Montana de Oro State Park. The few that you accidentally took home are probably not the only significant population.

That particular snail is supposed to be an eater of dead, decaying plant matter, and is not a garden pest, so it shouldn't be a problem for your plants. If it is, I would erradicate them with Sluggo. It might be interesting to cook some of both kinds of snail in butter and garlic and do a taste comparison. The standard preparation is to let the snails eat corn meal for a few days before cooking to flush out anything you don't want to eat. French escargot vs Californian escargot. Pair this combo with a French and a Californian Merlot. I'm guessing the California snail, like the Californian wine, will beat the French stuff everytime. Bon Appetit!

This is very interesting to me as someone who grew up in San Luis Obispo. I knew we had snails, but discovered later that they were the common brown snail, Helix aspersa, which are not a native species. I never knew of the Morro shoulderband snail, or its smaller cousin, the Big Sur shoulderband snail, found to the north. I guess these are found along the coast, but I wonder if they couldn't also be found in the creekbed ravines of the Santa Lucia range. You have given me an interesting project. I suspect this snail may not be as endangered as the EPA thinks. I am going to start looking for these.

Brad

Hey Mentha,

Pretty strange problem, I agree w/ above for US Fish & Wildlife. I'd also inform your local agricultural extension or aggie tech school if you've got such & certainly the authorities in the county where this was at issue. They should certainly learn that it's apparently not so endangered after all.

Crassula ovata does spread, every leaf that drops has a potential (spelling) for growth. That is why the hillsides in Africa are covered with them with-in their range. Norma

Norma, did you misunderstand?

She's not talking about the plants spreading, but rather the snails.

Just wanted to say that I enjoyed this passage immensely...
While I don't bear any hostility toward snails or the French, I am fiercely proud of California...! ;)

"French escargot vs Californian escargot. Pair this combo with a French and a Californian Merlot. I'm guessing the California snail, like the Californian wine, will beat the French stuff everytime. Bon Appetit!"

Josh

perhaps there's an intrepid biology grad looking for an interesting subject for his/her master thesis?

Thanks all, You do realize I was joking about eating them? I haven't eaten snails since I was about two. I'd prefer not to eat them nor have fish and wildlife trapsing through my front yard looking for snails. I'm sure the herps would have a heyday if they found out that legless lizards, horned toad lizards, and a population of three different California slender salimanders live here, also. That in mind I'd prefer not poisoning them. To top it off, the agriculture in this area would be ruined if PETA had that knowledge. I just get the willies when I find one traveling across my front porch. I shouldn't have said a million, they aren't that prolific, but just enough for me to see that they are still surviving here in the plant debris.

Brad, I wouldn't be surprised if they had migrated via Los Osos Valley RD into the western part of SLO. I know there is a colony of snails near the Atascadero lake that are not the French escargot. They do look suspect.

The problem is that they are endangered, protected and you live in California. You might as well call the man before he finds and fines you.
Good luck with them. We have those dang huge brown snails too. TX parks & wildlife had an article on how to prep them to eat, they said to put them in an aquarium, feed them lettuce for a week and gave recipes. They are the same ones the french are so fond of. I will be happy to mail mine to France!
Tally HO!

I refuse to consume anything that leaves a trail behind as it moves around! Ew!

We have some smaller snails here that seem to do plant damage, but we also have a good toad population and other predators that keep the numbers at a livable low.

I'm not sure what could be done without harming them... except to call in the authorities. Do you have toads or snail predators in the area? What could be done to encourage them?