Ned, bottom, a pale-bodied snail who has a left-spiraling shell pictured with a right-spiralling snail in a small town in New Zealand. Associated Press / Giselle Clarkson

Editor's note: The following text is a transcript of a podcast story. To listen to the story, click on the arrow beneath the headline above.
MARY REICHARD, HOST: More from our monopod beat: Ned the snail happens to be a romantic underdog. Found in a garden in New Zealand, he’s one out of 40,000, because his shell coils to the left instead of the right.
And that means that unless a lefty female turns up, Ned’s love life is, uh, stuck in neutral.
Giselle Clarkson is an illustrator and writer with New Zealand Geographic. She spotted him while weeding her bok choy:
CLARKSON: We’ve had lots of enthusiasm and encouragement for Ned, a lot of people who can relate and really want the best for them as a symbol of hope for everyone who’s looking for love.
Sadly so far, no “shell-mate” has answered the call.
It’s The World and Everything in It.
WORLD Radio transcripts are created on a rush deadline. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of WORLD Radio programming is the audio record.
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