Mass die-off of mountain snails in Alto Guadiana Basin

This very slow, wandering terrestrial mollusk, which carries its house on its back, takes its name from the Latin word Sacarabaelus, from scarabeaus, a testicular mollusk known as a gastropod. During dry and hot seasons, they close their shells with a white “curtain” or “telilla”. It is documented that snails appear in paintings and engravings from the Paleolithic and Neolithic ages; testimonies that echo the fact that primitive peoples attached great importance to this fact can be echoed. The Babylonians highly appreciated snails, providing them with a nutritious sauce for postpartum women and the eldest sons of rulers and great “lords”, allowing them to grow in the sunshine. In ancient times, snails were also used as medicine in Mesopotamia and Saudi Arabia. The Greek physician Galen recommended its consumption to treat asthma. Others consume them to relieve asthma and bronchitis. Apparently, the Romans were the first breeders of this terrestrial mollusk. There is information about it in Pliny the Elder’s Natural History… The Roman Fulvius Hirpinus was an excellent snail breeder. In Pompeii it had a breeding nursery whose land was dammed with ash so they wouldn’t escape. Archaeologists have unearthed millions of snail shells in Pompeii that likely correspond to the hatchery of Hypinus.

The hills, streams, orchards, meadows and avenues of Ruidera were, in my childhood, an oasis filled with the fragrance of virgins… the little bread that entered the home when “nothing else entered the home…” I believe this Is it an evangelical blessing… After the downpour, we boys “crawled” to the pasture… There were many people shaking the leaves, which were full of “snot” and looked like colored crystals to us… How many of us are there today? One local said we were heading to an area with “lots of snails but no chicha”. While we were walking along a shoulder of sand, a stone fragment got stuck in our right foot… To make it easier to reach and less painful, our feet turned into fire, there was a wooden seat nearby, and to remove the fragment we Take a detour and follow a road. There is a narrow strip of asphalt between the wooden parapet and the continuous line, but we obeyed and understood that the authorities were right, telling us that we had to walk on the chinarro shoulder; (so we jumped over the pomegranate with difficulty) because they told us: “…the pain will be the same…” Thank you!

We arrived in the mountains, and there were empty “houses” everywhere…, white…, still…; they made an immeasurable journey in the bush…, without white “curtains” or “curtains”… suddenly And the annoying swirls of fallen leaves and earth cover and turn death white… A ray of sunlight burns, inviting the most solemn reflection…