Radiolab

We found out that snails have this crazy habit of STABBING each other in the head with tiny arrows. The arrows are called “love darts” because they use them when... making love. So we went out to Prospect Park in Brooklyn to hunt for snails and see if we could find a love dart in the wild.

Love darts actually have a deep evolutionary purpose. They pump hormones into their partner to make it more likely for their partner to get pregnant. The snail makes them in an organ called the dart sac. The darts are a little limestone dagger, made from the same material as the snail’s shell. Scientists have observed one kind of snail that stabs its partner 3,300 times!

If YOU find a love dart — in NYC or elsewhere — PLEASE let us know. We will be so jealous but also so excited for you.

Thanks so much to Howard Goldstein from the Prospect Park Alliance for showing us around the park! @prospect_park

You can learn more about love darts in an episode we made all about them, at the link in our bio.

Hosted/reported by Molly Webster, video by Anisa Vietze.