Snail Farming and What It’s All About?

Snail farming in Europe. Photo by: radiokerry.ie

Never thought that snail farming to be one of the most profitable farming industries today. Even though it’s not as popular as many other farming industries, snail farming gain popularity when their usage get more than just for human consumption. While only few countries in the world popular with snail’s dishes but beauty industries spread to wider user and the substances for their products produces by this wonderful creature; snail.

Snail farming is not new to human. The farming practice had been described long ago in Lumaca romana, (translation: Roman snail) by Fulvius Lippinus (49 BC). We don’t know how long it’s been practiced before the documentation. It also indicate snail was one of the important resources since long-long ago.

Snail farming known as heliciculture, or heliculture is the process of raising land snails for human use either as food source or other usage such as producing slime for cosmetics industries or snail eggs as a type of caviar. There are many land snails use as food all around the world, but the popular snails known as escargot mostly refers to either Helix aspersa or Helix pomatia, and they both are tasty.

Snails ready to be ship in UK. Photo by: thatsfarming.com

Snail farming in Africa generate good income for farmer. Photo by: heifer.org 

While for cosmetic purposes, snails slime been used since ancient Greek to improve face moisture, to reduce wrinkles and to rejuvenate the skin (that includes reducing scars or blemishes). Snail’s slime or mucin contain hyaluronic acid, glycoprotein enzymes and peptides – that used in many other products not produced by the snail mucin.

If you’re interested to try the snail mucin products, it’s better you to try the ready cosmetics – for the mucus/mucin already treated clinically for safety usage (so use the known brands for extra safety). Snails as any other animals can be infested by many diseases, pest, worms and many other kind of infection. Proper preparation is very important to make sure your safety for using such kind of products.

Back to the snail’s farming, it can generate large margin of income – for the cost of running snail’s farm is lower. Instead snail’s farm getting popular not only in European countries but it also grows rapidly in Africa, North and South America and Australia. In fact there are many other species of snails being farmed. Some of the species included;

Helix aspersa, also known as "petit gris" one of popular in snail cuisines. Photo by: Waugsberg

One of popular dishes with snail. Photo by: escargot-world.com 

• Helix aspersa, also known as "petit gris," "small grey snail," the "escargot chagrine," or "la zigrinata".
• Helix pomatia, also known as "Roman snail," "apple snail," "lunar," "la vignaiola," the German "Weinbergschnecke," the French "escargot de Bourgogne" or "Burgundy snail," or "gros blanc".
• Otala lacteal, also known as "vineyard snail," "milk snail," or "Spanish snail".
• Iberus alonensis, the Spanish "vaqueta" or "serrana".
• Cepaea nemoralis, "grove snail," or the Spanish "vaqueta" from central and Europe and introduced to United States.
• Cepaea hortensis, "white-lipped snail" native to central and northern Europe.
• Otala punctate, "vaqueta" found in some part of Spain.
• Eobania vermiculata, "vinyala," "mongeta," or "xona", from the Mediterranean countries, then introduced into Louisiana and Texas.
• Helix lucorum, "escargo turc" quite big with size up to 45 mm across from central Italy and Yugoslavia, Crimea to Turkey and around Black Sea.
• Helix adanensis, from Turkey.
• Helix aperta, native to France, Italy and other Mediterranean countries. Nowadays already established in California and Louisiana.
• Theba pisana, "banded snail" or the "cargol avellanenc", native to Sicily and spread to several European countries, including England.
• Sphincterochila candidissima, also known as "cargol mongeta," or "cargol jueu"
• Achatina fulica, or giant African Snails can reach size up to 326 mm (1 ft ¾ in) in length. Native to south of the Sahara in East Africa. Also caused serious agricultural pest problem in other areas such as California, Hawaii and North Miami Florida. Still giant African Snails is the most popular snail as pet.

All of the snails above are example of land snails that grown in snails farming. Without proper care snails can be serious agricultural pest problem especially when it come from other areas. Some snail species can increase in numbers very rapidly when the condition is right such as giant African snail that threaten not only native snails but also others animals that feed on the same food sources.

Snail caviar another new product: Photo by: caracolchile.blogspot.my

Beauty creams with snail's mucin: Photo by: nylonpink.tv 

As the snails farming is still considered new. Many other possibilities can be achieved with more research and development to identify the potential of snail’s base products. While at the same time, farmers need to be responsible to make sure the safety of the farming method to avoid the harmful effect of snails to natural/local environment.

Make an Extra Money by Driving Uber or Grab

Line up taxi waiting for customer.

The world of public transport has changed since the introduction of Uber and then followed by Grab. These two transportation systems that utilized the usage of new technologies making life more easer and opening chances to millions of drivers to make an extra incomes from their investment on their vehicles. The success of the system proofs that the conventional taxi need to be changed.

The introduction of Uber already steer controversial when many taxi drivers protested its usage by damaging the driver’s cars. These incidents occurred in all major cities in the world where Uber is used. Despite of the protest, Grab had been introduced showing the changes is totally inevitable.

For the drivers itself both Uber and Grab bring them new hope to earn extra cash to help them with their monthly bills includes to pay the car loan itself. The chances by the way never come easy when you are not born as driver to commute the busy city traffics. So here we are going to see what make successful Uber and Grab drivers to achieving their dreams – earn more money!

Waiting for customer should be thing in the pass.

Part Time Driver

This is the largest group of drivers both for Uber and Grab, as many tries their best to earn extra money. Drivers who spend few hours a day to drive around and bring strangers to earn extra money. Some of these drivers drive when they think it is right to go out and nothing to do in their daily schedule.

This type of drivers mostly will stop after few months while some of them will keep on continuing for longer period. Most of these drivers already have good daily jobs while some of them looking for extra cash to gain more in order to support the burden of their expenses.

Uber with its research car for driver-less car.

Full Time Driver

Full time driver are more aggressive. While some of them really find it become their daily job, while most of them return to their daily job before they became an Uber or Grab Driver. It is not easy to change the lifestyles – to be a fulltime driver as this will be the main source of income.

The full time driver need to understand that their new life will be mostly on the road with busy traffics and they also need to face different characters of their customers. Being a fulltime drivers mean more time to spend on driving instead of time for themselves (it also become their new dedicated job where they need to manage it by themselves). Without proper time management and good attitude the fulltime driver will never achieves their target and their dreams.

Tips and Tricks

Whether it is for fulltime or just for fun, driving to earn money come with disciplines, motivations, good attitudes and love for the job that you do. Still there are many things to learn in order to successfully achieving the short term and long term goals as everyday will be a new challenging day in life.

Time management – time management is very important to make sure this new commitment not changing what is really important (the daily job itself). While for those who decide to make it as a fulltime job need to speed their time as much how they spend it for their daily job – at least!

Attitudes – good attitudes toward your job. Yes, this is your job that you can control in your hands so be responsible. Shows good driving practices, make sure your car is safe, fasten your own seat belt and remind your customers too, use the phone holder if you need to use the GPS navigation, avoid too loud music, and give attention to your customers.

Motivation – be serious with your daily target whether in the form of how many hours you should drive, or how much money you should make per day. Always remember, every day is different – so do as much you can while you can.

Remember to use the phone holder to assist your driving.

Learn the tricks – use GPS, avoid congestion roads, accidents, new routes and so on with navigating apps. Most of the drivers using it, but make sure to use it effectively. Some drivers go out early to avoid traffic congestions where there’s also less drivers available. Weekend also another good time to get more customers.

Explore and enjoy – enjoy your driving, explore the edges of the city where you never went to. Driving for customer is the only opportunity for you to reach these parts. Most of the time you will discover new places and probably things that you are looking for.

Improve your skills – learn everything that helps. It might sounds funny, but learning will helps you communicate better with your customers. Broad knowledge will allow you to share many things with your customers when you need too. Sometimes it can helps you in different ways as in learning for time management and managing your income.

Uber/Grab or Conventional Taxi

There are many benefits of being Uber/Grab driver, instead of conventional taxi driver. By harnessing the technologies, this mode of transport get more customers compared the regular taxi that hanging around waiting for the customers in specific places.

Uber/Grab allows customers to book their ride with few clicks on their phone together with the payment deducted from their debit or credit cards – and it comes together with their bill sent to their email. These built in features will be an extra cost for conventional taxi driver. Usually Uber/Grab driver will get a new booked before they drop their passenger.

Customers gain more trust to the system with fix prices and no haggling on the price that already fix by the system. There’s no way for driver to add an extra cost for Grab system (as in Uber the price can be changed at the end of the journey).

Using the phone technology to booked for ride.

Download Uber for iPhone

Download Uber for Android

Download Grab for iPhone

Download Grab for Android

How to be Uber driver link

How to be Grab driver link

Fast and easy, get a taxi and drop customer almost anywhere.

Uber/Grab providing new opportunity to every car owner who decide to earn extra cash or those who are willing to do it as their fulltime job. This opportunity however not necessarily applied to every one of us – not all of us born to be a driver – especially when you cannot tolerate with fussy customers. So think it carefully before your decide to do it as your fulltime job. At least we know, there’s always an opportunity for us to earn an extra cash when you need it.