Nightly invasion of snails at Mayo home

MEMBERS of the snail family are interfering with a Mayoman's home life by consistently beating a pathway to his abode, The Connaught Telegraph has learned.

The elderly Castlebar resident, who does not wish to be named, discovered there is a nightly invasion of his kitchen by a couple of inquisitive snails.

This particular battalion of snails seem to have left their usual good manners outside the door.

The nocturnal intruders wriggle their way under the kitchen door, an exercise which he describes as 'akin to the limbo dance in the West Indies'.

When morning comes the little creatures have disappeared, leaving behind their calling card -  a silver trail.

A neighbour has suggested that if a barrier of common salt was left on the route of the snails, it would prevent the little creatures from invading his privacy.

However, the man in question is far too humane and kind to spoil the nightly visits of the humble snail.

So the snails continue to make a beeline for the comfort of his home, secure in the knowledge that its owner will not harm them.

Snails, for the most part, are unassuming, timid little creatures. Despite this admirable trait of character, members of a particular snail family held up a major road development in the Limerick area some years ago when local residents claimed they were an endangered species.

Deputy Michael Noonan, now Finance Minister, and a constituency colleague, Deputy Willie O’Dea, became involved in the rumpus.

The result was that the route of the road had to be diverted so that the highway wouldn’t interfere with the lifestyle of the snails.