A nonconformist Cochlicopa

Whether the snail Cochlicopa lubrica keeps its apex up or down when its dormant on a vertical surface was the subject of this post. All 27 snails that were dormant on my garage door on that date had their apexes pointing down.

This afternoon when I took a look at the Cochlicopa currently on the garage door, I had a surprise: one of the 13 snails had its apex up.

However, this particular snail (yes, #11) wasn't exactly on a vertical surface; it was at the corner of a section raising up to a narrow panel. Nevertheless, the snail could have turned around and pointed its apex down before becoming dormant.

There were also 2 other snails that were more or less horizontal. So, now I know that when Cochlicopa lubrica becomes dormant, it usually points its apex down, but occasionally some snails may position themselves with their apexes horizontal or up.