Above: July 30. Two of the "babies," born right here in the Pond of the Pauls, now walnut-sized, and as it would appear, mature. Doin' their thing. I've counted five snails in this generation. Boy, how they grow! And eat! (Mason's a camera hog.)
Below: They were at it for three days. One just crawls around like nothing's going on and the other, well, piggy-backs. He must be the male. ;)
Above: One of these guys on July 17, almost half the size he is now.
July 31, already, massive egg casing! One of three laid overnight. Another of them below. (Note the spider above it, doing what, I don't know.) The third, not shown here, was the smallest. Jeez, these guys waste no time.
Below: Last night (August 3, 2:35 AM), Violet woke me up to go outside. I went out to turn off the scarecrow so she wouldn't get blasted and caught this gal in the egg-laying act. I didn't know that the eggs come out one at a time in a single file line as if on a conveyor belt. But it makes sense. (Photo by flashlight.)
Above: This morning. Context shot. Egg casing complete. This batch is unlikely to survive because it's in the direct sunlight and it's been baking hot. (The little ones need to stay moist but not wet while in the egg.)
Below: The completed egg casing. Wowaa! I'd say this is 300 eggs. Laid one . . . at . . . a . . . time!
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