How to banish snails (but don't tell the neighbours)

Throwing snails over the garden fence is generally frowned upon, but it is a remarkably effective way of getting rid of the pests, scientists have found. The only catch - apart from the feelings of your neighbours - is that you need to have a very good throwing arm. Because a new study has found that snails rarely return from more than 65 feet (20 metres), just short of the length of a cricket pitch. Gardening lore, passed down over the generations, has held that a snail will always return to munch on the prize lettuces or azaleas in your garden, no matter how far the mollusc is thrown. Legend has it that a snail’s homing instinct is so strong that it can travel back to from a mile or more. But academics from the universities of Exeter and Queen Mary London have disproved the stories, and found that a snail’s homing instinct is very limited.