With all the rain this year the bees and other wildlife might not be doing so well, but the slugs certainly are. I heard on the radio this year that this summer has been one of the best for slugs because of all the wet weather, and there certainly seems to be a lot around.

Yesterday I found this huge one on our front lawn. They are often overlooked as just pests in the garden, and they are, but I also find them strangely fascinating!

I photographed this one a few weeks ago!



That's my foot next to it.

Kingfisher

Xeract those slugs look like they you are on 1st name terms with them & have invited them round for dinner!!! Ugghhhh Good pics though. As for Kingfisher's pic she looks about to stamp on it???? I hate slugs but do not mind snails.Perhaps we should have a slug of the year competition to raise the profile of the humble slimy, slithery slug?

This post was last modified: 26-08-2007 03:05 PM by tibbar.

That one is a bast Kingfisher, unless you have extremely small feet

I did get pretty close to the slugs tibbar, the camera I used has a great close-up mode which makes it easy to get shots like that.

I do have feet which are considered quite small here in the US, but that's a banana slug there. I think it would measure about six inches. That one was big, but not as big as they can get.

Tibbar, I would not stamp on the slug*--I thought it was a good way of showing how large it was compared to my shoe.

*Slugs are horribly slimy, and I did not want to get slug slime all over my trainer.

Kingfisher

I thought as much Kingfisher!!! but if they grow biggr than that they may well hold your foot up for you
I wouldn't stand on one either as sometimes if I am unlucky & accidentally stand on a snail I feel physically sick as I hear the crunch & then feel traumatised when they don't even die right away. I am always devastated.
I have a lot of pale buff coloured slugs with mottles on them but I am not about to get down to their view point. Very brave of Xeract & good pics.

This post was last modified: 27-08-2007 08:56 AM by tibbar.

Just about the only flowers that have survived this year are the Geraniums, which slugs apparently hate. So if you want a slug-free garden, fill it with Geraniums.

Meanwhile, the drought-resistent plants that we were all advised to buy for the long, hot, dry summer we were going to get haven't fared all that well... the slugs loved them! They were having a great time, inviting all their mates over for a late-night feast. I had to keep telling them to turn the music down

Oh, and you probably put out those saucers full of beer for them too, thinking they'd drown their sorrows and themselves!

Ha!

Kingfisher

Too right! When you gotta go, make sure that you go happy

Great photos. I did try the saucers of beer once but it didn't really work too well. There was a few in there after a while but many more kept atacking the plants!

You are not serving the right kind of beer then Bill or you need a jam jar full as they can actually drink a saucer full & make it home in one piece!!!!
Skip had a 'close encounter ot the slimy kind' spurred on by Xeract's & Kingfisher's excellent pics.

We now announce the snail formation slithering team.....
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Who's this in the middle of our performance?? Attack!!
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Horn to horn combat..
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Victory!!! Snails 1 Slugs 0..
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Victor slithering off into the moonlight..
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Spoiling our formation ,bet he won't do that again!!!!

This post was last modified: 02-09-2007 04:26 PM by tibbar.

Oh, that is too funny!

How long did this performance take? Did that snail actually kill the slug, and how? I've never seen such a thing happen.

(mind you, had I seen such a display in my garden I probably would not know whether to stomp or simply get out the salt shaker !)

Kingfisher

Sorry Kingfisher ,a little bit of poetic licence, I have to be honest no Victor did not really kill the slug it was one Skip had trodden on the night before, but it seemed so funny that the two live ones actually did lock horns. It took about 10 mins altogether.
It would be interesting to know if slugs & snails would actually kill anything & why did they lock horns?
I like snails a lot , & have an outside tap with a brass snail handle. If I go to the shop on a wet night I spend a lot of time removing them from the footpath then they don't get trodden on. I had so many any one time that other neighbours were asking for some & we did use to have a bird who ate them smashing their shells on a stone. I have to admit I am not that keen on slugs though.
To prove the slug was still alive after the encounter, here he is with his smaller friend who is eating hte dead one.

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This post was last modified: 03-09-2007 08:01 AM by tibbar.

My husband had a good laugh over your photo sequence too!

My only guess about the horn locking is that the two sets of horns (tentacles) are actually sensing devices. The upper set are optical tentacles, and the bottom set are olfactory tentacles.

So, perhaps the slug and the snail were determining what each other was? The tentacles will regrow if damaged. I also know (I think most of us do) that snails and slugs are hermaphrodites--they contain the genitalia of both sexes in their bodies. What I didn't know is that occasionally the penis (which is a corkscrew like affair) will get stuck in the mate, and will be chewed off. The snail/slug which loses the penis remains a female for the rest of its life, as this organ does not regrow.

Kingfisher

OOOch !!!

Congrats on the avatar I am looking for one myself!!!

This post was last modified: 03-09-2007 09:11 PM by tibbar.