Identify land snail

 I am on the mid north coast, north of Newcastle, on acreage.  In the vege
garden I have found some snails that I cannot identify.  They look nothing
like a normal garden snail but more like a small periwinkle.  They are a
spiral pointed at one end and thicker at the other, about 8mm end-to-end and
5mm in diameter at the widest.  The colour is a nondescript grey-brown.
They are mostly on the larger leafed veges such as collards and don't seem
to hide away obsessively like normal garden snails.

I have trawled through google images etc but cannot find them.  I lack any
means to post a photo.  Can anybody indentify them or suggest where to look
for information?

David

 

Try Cochlicella barbara or C. acuta
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=Cochlicella&btnG=Search+Images&gbv=2  

 

http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=Cochlicella&btnG=Search+Images&gbv=2

Thanks.  It looks like they are in fact some species of cochlicella.  Given
their rapid multplication I may be looking for a moluscicide, the iron-based
ones look much more specific and safe than the old metaldehyde.  Do you have
any experience of such?

David

 

I have used the methadehyde in the past. I seem to remember they kill snails
and slugs and break down in the soil back to carbon and hydrogen. Have also
been known to collect the snails and throw them into water which has salt
added to it.

Most recently I bait my rat traps with snail pellets as they seem to like
them. Hence I put pellets out only to find none when I check and no snail
shells in site.

Cheers

Richard

 David,
You could try good old copper spray (copper oxychloride) on the plants
themselves just to drive them off the plants down to where they can find the
pellets
Geoff