58 newyork| october12–25, 2020MAR30, 2020 BuzzFeedNewsstrategistMaggie
SchultzwasonInstagramand“sawOkimoto
wasgivingsomeaway.Myformercolleagueat
BuzzFeedhadsnails, andtheywere kindof
cuddlyandseemedeasytocarefor. SoI adopted
one fromOkimotoandnamedit Tony.”DEC 2019 MiraMoore,
a serverat Opsin Bushwick,also
findsa snailin a boxofarugula.Moore,
whohadpreviouslyownedrats,decides
totakeit homeandnameshimRocket.MAR 2020 Artist
Okimotofindssnails
inheryard inQueens
andasksherfriend
Mooreif theymake
goodpets.Affirmed,
shekeepsoneand
handsoutseveral via
contactlesspickup.MAR 2020
Constructionestimator
RamonaSadiqtakes
twofromOkimoto.
“They’reblobby,”
shesays. “Like those
blobbyceramics.
Maybewe’re just
intoblobbyshapes.”the pandemicpetAndHow
LongDoThey Live?
Twotothreeyears,generally—
thoughsomelivemuchlonger. But,
accordingtoDoherty,it’s impolitetoinquire.
“Thefirstquestionpeoplealwaysaskwhen
theyseemysnailsis ‘Howlongdothey
live?’Whichis absolutelyfucking
disrespectful.”Where
to BuyOneIf youwanttotake
ina snailyoufindona stem
ofarugula,thatmay
beperfectlyaboveboard.
Butif youwanttoorderone
online,thatis a different
story: It’softenillegal
tobuysnailsfromout
ofstatebecausemany
areinvasivespecies.This
doesn’t meansnailsites
don’t exist:Snailpets.com,
whichis runbya mother-
daughterduo,shipsthem
ina ventilatedcontainer
withsomelettuce($18),
andtherearelegionsof
black-market snailsonsites
likeeBay andEtsy. But
yourbestbet, if youwant
toavoidthelegalissues
surroundingsnail-ordering,
is togolookforoneunder
a loginthepark.Food
Babyandadultsnailsalike
needcalciumtoensuretheir
shellsgrowlargeandstrong.
Several oftheownerswespoke
torecommendedputting
acuttlebone($3atpetsmart
.com)inthetanksothesnail
canabsorbitsminerals.And Some
ThingsYou’ll
Need to Care
for Them
Accordingto
snail owners.TankAccessories
ommends
er($8at
tomofthe
tan orbsandbreaks
do. “Ontopofthe
su utdownsome
sphagnummoss($7atamazon
.com)—they like tonibbleonit.”1946 According
to an entry in the
“MetropolitanDiary”
oftheNewYorkTimes,
peoplein Bed-Stuyflock
toPutnamAvenue,
whereword hasgotten
aroundthatyoucanbuy
a petsnailfora penny. 1957 Patricia Highsmith publishes
Deep Water, a thriller about a villain who
lavishesattentiononhispetsnails.(Turns
outHighsmithwasabsolutelyobsessed
withsnailsandkeptabout 300 aspets.) 1966
A boy smuggles
three giantAfrican
land snailsfrom
Hawaii tohishome
in Miamitokeepas
pets. His grandmother
releases thesnailsinto
her garden,andthey
spread,breedingover
18,000descendants
andcausingmore
than$1million
in removalcosts.Why
Snails?
Why Now?
JUN 2015
ArtistAleiaMurawski
postsavideoon
Instagramofher
snailposedona pairof
plasterlips.Overtime,
heraccountbecomes
largelysnail-centric.
Sheaccumulates
212,000followers. MAY 2017
YouTuber Emzotic
shares a video of her
giant Africanland
snails. It receivesover
5 millionviews.NOV 2017 Former
NewYorkMagazinestaff
photographerBobby
Doherty shootssnailsfora
pieceonsnail-slimefacials.
Afterward,hedecidestotake
themhome.Whenever
hepostspicturesofhispets,
dozensofpeopleDMhim,
hesays, askingabouttheir
namesandwhattheyeat.THEMARLOW & DAUGHTERSCREW
NOV 2019 Yoko Koide,a butcherat Marlow&
Daughters,findssnailsina caseofarugula.
“We gotsuperintothem,”shesays. “Eventually
theybred,andwegave thebabiestoourfriends.”FEB 2020 i-Dmagazineidentifiescottagecore.
Later, Voxwrites:“Here’swhatcottagecore
lookslike:It is doilies, snails, andDIYfairyspoons.”FEB 2020 TikTokvideosof
TimPearce,themolluskscurator
attheCarnegieMuseumof
NaturalHistory,goviral.Inthe
videos,hemakessnailjokes.
Theteensloveit,andseveralof
theclipsget1 millionviews.AUG 2020 Koidegivessnailstoherfriends
KerenLieuandengineerTomNguyen.“My
boyfriendisobsessedwiththem—hecalls
them‘myperfectboys,’ ” saysLieu.JUL 2020 Thesnail
crazearrivesontheWest
Coast,whenAngelina
Rennell,thefounder
ofclothingshopBeklina,
findsa“bumpercrop”
ofsnailsinhergarden
anddecidestofill
upa bucketofthemto
keep. Rennellhasposted
hersnailstoBeklina’s
Instagram,whichhas
207, 000 followers,
andreceiveddozens
ofmessagesfrom
interestedsnailowners.
JUL 2020 WriterRebecca
Giggsreceivessnailsthat
wereorderedasa prop
forherpartner’s play
andkeepsthem.Shewrites
aboutthemforTheNew
YorkTimesMagazine:
“Watchingthemuncurl,
I haveceasedtolament
thefuturethepandemic
upendedandhave begun
insteadtofindsmall
raptureshere.”SEP3, 2020Artist
ChloeWisepostsa photo
ofa tinyiridescentsnailon
herfingertiptoInstagram
withthecaption“Friend.”SEP26, 2020 Jewelry
designerSophieBuhai
introducesherspring-
summer 2021 collection
onInstagramwitha
photoofa snailcrawling
acrossa bareback. 2014 New York artist
Anicka Yi injects snails
with oxytocin for her
exhibition “Divorce”
at a Chinatown gallery.
In a press release,she
writes, “Snails bring
a sense of time,slow
and unauditablein
swollensilence.Curiously
self-reliant,hermaphroditic,
self-reproducing,snails
area techno-sensual
sparselaw ofone.” APR 2019Instagram
account SnailManor,
which postspictures
of land snailsslithering
around dollhouses,
launches.Who’sThaton YourArugula?
White-lippedSnail
cepaea
hortensis
Thewhite-lipped
snailhasa similar
shellpattern
tothegrovesnail
butis slightly
smaller.GroveSnail
cepaea
nemoralis
Another
commonEast
Coastsnail.These
tendtohave
a yelloworpink
stripedshell.GardenSnail
cornu
aspersum
Theseprolific
snails,whichhave
brownshellsand
bodies,canbe
foundinmany
yardsinNew York.APR 2020 A 23-year-
oldwomanonTikTok,
whoseaccountnameis
Lazy__mermaid,posts
a videoofhersister’ssnail
takinga “shower”intheir
sinktothesong“Dissolve,”
byAbsofacto. It gets
nearly500, 000 likes.OCT 2020 Online
Ceramicsaddsasterling-
silversnailnecklace
andearringstoits
collection;theysellout
almostimmediately.
Tanks
wned
she
$13
at od f
thu at en
sn all
one adult snail. Smaller species
can get away with less.”Additional reporting by Dominique Pariso.