6 Surprising Animal Sleep Habits

Egyptian Land Snails

Land snails hibernate under stones or rocks for the winter, but desert snails estivate — meaning they spend their summers in a state of dormancy. These summer rests can be quite prolonged, and in the 1840s one desert snail even fooled the staff of the British Museum. According to Natural History magazine, in 1846 a museum worker affixed what they believed was a dead Egyptian land snail to a museum identification card. Four years later, staff noticed trails of slime on the card. The card was immersed in water, and the animal crawled right off.

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