As I pulled dandelions out of my lawn this afternoon I noticed some tiny clear balls around the base of one plant and wondered what they were. About 2mm across, spherical and with a rough surface but no noticeable contents other than clear gel – which I found out when I squished one. Until I'd done that I almost wondered if they were plastic or glass ball bearings like you used to get in fountain pen ink cartridges at school.

Though I've never seen them before I guessed they might be snail eggs and indeed there was a large garden snail close by. A bit of internet research shows I was probably right. Apparently they hatch within about four weeks having been laid by both of the snails that mated – snails being hermaphrodite.