snail crunching

I will admit I never thought much about snails before. But I was riding in a coworker's car one night when she mentioned their increased appearances, especially on "the shortcut road" (a dark, narrow, creepy pathway that those of us on "the hill" take every day to get to school). And then I saw them everywhere. Dotting the road, snaking silvery pathways on the pavement and sidewalks whenever I went for my evening walks. Then my coworker's car ran over one. The sound was akin to a mini explosion. I was horrified at the mental picture of the slimy, elastic thing being squished under its shell until it popped with a BANG. I started to mind the snails a little more after that.
And THEN my housemate stepped on one. That time, it sounded like glass shattering. I did not look.

I was flipping through a book of children's singing games the other day and I came across a song called "crunching snails." The book gave directions to have the children step as if they felt the crunching beneath their feet. I quickly turned the page. Either the composer had a sick mind, or I'm willing to bet that whoever wrote that song must not have ever had the experience of actually crunching snails, because I don't believe they would want to write a children's song about it!