this post was submitted on 11 Jul 2025
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[–] thebestaquaman@lemmy.world 68 points 2 months ago (6 children)

So, a typical snail moves at around 0.0048 km/h, and are around 1 cm tall. The snail in the image appears to be more than 3-4 stories tall, let's say 15 m. If the speed scales linearly with size, this snail could move at around 7.2 km/h.

So yeah, a very brisk walk for your life should just about keep you out of reach if you're in decent shape.

[–] LadyButterfly@piefed.blahaj.zone 27 points 2 months ago (2 children)
[–] TheLeadenSea@sh.itjust.works 23 points 2 months ago (1 children)
[–] sbv@sh.itjust.works 7 points 2 months ago (1 children)

It was an asymptomatic smash!

[–] kryptonite@lemmy.world 2 points 2 months ago

Or even asymptotic.

[–] TomMasz@lemmy.world 6 points 2 months ago (1 children)
[–] ivanafterall@lemmy.world 3 points 2 months ago

Saunter at your own peril.

[–] DarkCloud@lemmy.world 6 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

Your linked source doesn't appear to list that number (It lists 8 cm a minute).

Perhaps you (or a large language model, if you're using one) has it mixed up with this:

"Snails have been measured at speeds of 0.048 kilometres per hour."

From this source.

Also, 1 cm tall would be a very small snail... Approximately the size of your smallest fingernail.

[–] thebestaquaman@lemmy.world 10 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (2 children)

8 cm/min * 60 min/h * 1e-5 km/cm = 0.0048 km/h

If I'm not completely mistaken.

I'll admit that the "1 cm tall" is guesstimated based on my memory of the snails in my garden.

The linked source also mentions that some snails can be up to ten times as fast as the typical 8 cm/min (0.0048 km/h), but those appear to be maritime snails, while the snail in the image seems to be terrestrial.

[–] DarkCloud@lemmy.world 6 points 2 months ago

Oh yeah you're right 👍

The source I found appears to list the wrong figure.

[–] Wilco@lemmy.zip 1 points 2 months ago

Yea, yea ... you have the math for a snail. Impressive. Could a bird carry it and drop it on people? How big would it have to be? Could you outrun it? What is the airspeed of an unladen swallow?

[–] kemsat@lemmy.world 5 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I was hoping someone had calculated how quickly a snail that size would move, and you did not disappoint!

[–] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 3 points 2 months ago (1 children)

the problem is snails harbor tons of parasites, the slime it leaves will just infect everyone in its wake.

[–] beastlykings@sh.itjust.works 2 points 2 months ago

I was thinking this might be the case, but didn't want to do the math. Thank you.

[–] deadcream@sopuli.xyz 2 points 2 months ago

Unless it's a carnivorous snail