A new study reveals

Scientists examined the habits of 450 garden snails recording their movements using LED lights, UV paints and time-lapse photography.

This is the first time snails have been studied in this way, creating some unexpectedly spectacular images.

The findings revealed how snails will travel distances of up to 25 metres in a 24-hour period, and seek out areas of shelter, such as long grass, trees or objects, including dogs' toys, left in the garden overnight.

The four researchers from Exeter University also discovered that snails move in convoys, piggy-backing on the slime of other snails to conserve energy.

It is thought that a snail could use up to 30 per cent of its energy in slime production alone, the study found.

The study was commissioned as a resource for dog owners, whose pets are at risk from a potentially fatal parasite spread by slugs and snails, the lungworm Angiostrongylus vasorum.

The parasite is contracted when dogs accidentally swallow even the smallest slugs or snails, which can be found in dog toys, puddles and long grass.

Dr Dave Hodgson, associate professor of ecology at the University of Exeter, led the research.

"Until now no one has fully understood the habits of these fascinating creatures that we encounter in our gardens every day," he said.

"In this research we wanted to solve the mystery surrounding gastropod activity and provide a resource for gardeners and pet owners wanting to better safeguard the health of their plants and pets."

Preventative treatment of lungworm infection in dogs is widely available and pet owners are advised to consult their vet if they are concerned.

A recent survey suggests that lungworm is now endemic throughout much of the UK.

Hope that as a man to live again

ABC News Editor Don Ennis surprised his workmates in May when he strolled into the office sporting a wig and dress and announced he was transgender and was separating from his wife, the New York Post reports Diamond Water.

But the man, who briefly went by the name of Dawn, now says a two-day bout of "transient global amnesia" made him realise he wanted to resume his life as a man.

"I accused my wife of playing some kind of cruel joke, HKUE DSE dressing me up in a wig and bra and making fake ID's with the name 'Dawn' on it. Seriously," Mr Ennis wrote in a memo he posted to the bulletin board in his newsroom last Friday.

"It became obvious this was not the case once I took off the bra ― and discovered two reasons I was wearing one," he said referring to his hormone-induced breasts Diamond Water.

"I thought it was 1999 ... and I was sure as hell that I was a man."

The journalist said his memories of the last 14 years have since returned but the desire to live the life of a woman has not.

"I am writing to let you know I’m changing my name ... to Don Ennis. That will be my name again, now and forever. And it appears I’m not transgender after all," he wrote.

"I have retained the much different mind-set I had in 1999: I am now totally, completely, unabashedly male in my mind, despite my physical attributes," he said, adding that he would remain an "advocate for equal rights and other LGBT issues".

Mr Ennis said his gender mix-up may have been cause by his mother administering him female hormones as a child to keep him looking young and prolong his acting career.

Instead he developed breasts and began to think of himself as a woman.

Mr Ennis said he feels "fantastic" as a man again and is adamant he did not give up on his life as a woman because it was too difficult.

"The new change I’m revealing to you today did not arise because I couldn’t hack it, or people wouldn’t accept the new/real/female 'me,' or I had trouble finding shoes that fit (Oh, I found plenty, more than I could afford)," he wrote.

And he clarified that his announcement was not part of an elaborate joke.