Snails of Summer part B

It's been so dry for so long I was mildly surprised to see brown garden snails (Cantareus aspersus) cruising the tops of some succulents in the full light of a recent August-hot midmorning. An odd juxtapostion: Snails; think moisture, shade, thick foresty duff; Succulents; conjure dry, sun, sharp draining sandy soil. Still, my garden isn't strictly arid by any means. It's a mixture of small trees, shrubs, perennials, succulents, a few roses, herbs, grasses and even a few ferns and some ancient camellias, all punctuated with rocks, cheesy garden art and underlain with clay soil. The garden art and rocks provide deep shade for the snails, while I imagine the most succulent plants are attractive to the mollusks because of their high moisture content. The slugs that are so much more plentiful in early spring are long gone now, having left more resources for the summer-hardier snails.