Snails aren't boring

We bought a fish tank. And fish too. And a snail. When we got the snail it was because we have live plants and the pet store guy said we'd need something to eat all the algy. So we bring him home and I think 'boring!' But actually, he is the most intriguing animal in the entire tank. The first night, no biggy. The second night...what a story.

So I turned the tank light on in the morning to feed the fish and I didn't see him (we had named him 'hiya' because thats the first thing Emmaline said when we asked her what to call him). But, I figured hiya was hiding in the fishy cave as he had done before. So I fed the fish and as I went to put away the food, I found him. He had somehow crawled out of the tank and down the back, into the base. He was all dried up and shriveled into his shell. We were totally freaked out and we put him into water and it took him all day to 'recover' and finally start moving around again. We decided to rename him 'kamakazi'.

So the third morning (we covered all holes that he could have possibly excaped out of) we checked to see that he was there and low and behold! He is eating one of our fish.

Now. There is my story and there is the pet store's story. Mine is better. The guppy has big fins and was swimming around in the plants that had come out of the gravel and floated up to the top of the tank. The snail hopped onto the roots of the plants as they were next to the glass ( he has done that before and you can picture it...well, maybe he didn't hop but he slithered). As he was moving along the plant he accidentially rolled onto the fin of the guppy. But, he isn't one to say 'oops, sorry' and move so he kept going. And eventually he killed the fish by smothering it and then ate it.

So, our kamakazi snail became a murderer.

The pet store guy's theory is that the fish died, floated, grew bacteria that attracted the snail and the snail went to eat it. But thats not nearly as fun as a suicidal, murderous snail.

Then for Emmaline: She loves the fish tank. I should get a picture of her talking to it. But for

now, here is a really cute tub picture- we were trying to spike her hair with shampoo.