Estivating

I wasn't aware that snails estivate until I read "The sound of a wild snail eating" by Elisabeth Tova Bailey, maybe because the summer where I come from is just barely long and warm enough for snails to cope.
On my walks I had noticed that the snails were not around when the thermometer was boiling and we hadn't been blessed by rain for a long period, but thought that they just sought shelter from the direct sun and thus disappeared. They actually also do that, look for damp shady places to fight the dehydration, but like many other animals they are able use a different strategy involving incredible physiological changes. What they do is to slow down their metabolism to a hypometabolic state, just like when they hybernate, then they secrete mucuous that will dry and form socalled epiphragm that will seal up the snail's aperture to prevent water loss. Then they can remain in a dormant phase for days, weeks and even months.