Saturday 2 July 2011

Slug (02 JUL 2011)

This is an extra, little post for the lovely One@Onenezz who sees goodness in all creatures ...

She reported that in Malaysia they have snails but no slugs and asked me to share some photos.

Even though there is evidence of the existence of slugs all over my garden, I hardly see them.

This weekend I was clearing out the iris leaves in my woodland area when I found a rather handsome, plump slug with orange trim. I think it was a bit upset to find itself on my patio ...


It climbed over obstacles ...


and limboed under others ...


checked its bearings ....


then returned back to the dampness of the woodland from whence it came.


Hope you are enjoying your weekend One !

25 comments:

Anonymous said...

That was nice of you to document your garden wildlife for One. I too could have shown her a herd of them. With all our rain, the new little ones are out in force. Not my favorite garden creature, but I do let them live.

HolleyGarden said...

It's giant! Ewww!

Anonymous said...

I don't think I've ever seen a slug described as 'handsome' before!

b-a-g said...

Donna, Holley, Sproutling - I hate slugs like most gardeners, but when you look at them through a camera lens, it's just you and it sharing a moment, two living things. I wonder if it felt the same way!

The slug damage in my garden is currently manageable. They haven't killed anything completely yet, except for my seedlings, which was my fault for trapping moisture in the greenhouse. I have heard of underground slugs that eat bulbs and tubers. I don't think I would be so tolerant of them

Bridget said...

I recently read a lovely little book, a birthday present, called The sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elisabeth Tova




















I recently read a lovely little book called The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elisabeth Tova Bailey which made me see snails in a whole new light.

Karin / Southern Meadows said...

I don't see many slugs in my garden... far too hot for their liking I imagine. But I do remember seeing them frequently growing up in Seattle. They were everywhere, especially the banana slugs that were enormous, yellow and yucky!

debsgarden said...

It seems your slug has some intelligence and curiosity! Maybe slugs get a bad rap, due to their slimy appearance and yucky name. I don't see them often here, which is fine with me!

Diana Studer said...

I can live quite happily with our invisible slugs, but I remember huge slugs in Switzerland, and those banana slugs would make me run screaming into the night. The size, the colour! But then my garden doesn't try to grow anything that would whine about Those Snails Ate Me!!

b-a-g said...

Bridget - If the plants in my garden don't start flowering soon, I'll be writing stories about garden creatures too.

Karin & Diana - If banana slugs are the yellowy-green ones, I saw two of them taking advantage of the privacy under some foxglove leaves. This tested my new garden bravery to the very limit. I was totally disgusted ... of course I had to have another peek, but they were gone just leaving a pool of slime. Slugs move a lot quicker than people give them credit for.

Deb - Eggshells or sand are supposed to put slugs off but I can't see anything getting in the way of this one.

Stacy said...

What Holley said, word for word.

Actually, it reminds me of something from Dr. Dolittle--wasn't there a giant sea slug or some such? Perfectly friendly and helpful, once it had been cured of some illness of other.

I like what you say about looking at them through a camera lens and how that changes things. Watching a slug maneuver an obstacle course and figure things out--it's really astonishing for some reason.

b-a-g said...

Stacy - I thought the same as Holley until it started the obstacle course. I don't plan to include slugs in my posts on a regular basis. I keep reminding myself to stick to the scope of the title of this blog, but I get distracted sometimes.

One said...

Hi! I apologize for arriving here this late. We are having a family reunion which will last for 2 weeks. I am glad to have popped by to see these interesting slugs. I imagine the snails over here would look similar if their shells are removed. Don't worry, I am not experimenting with the snails.

They are definitely pests. I wonder what you do with them. Do you leave them in your neighbour's house? :)

Do you really have to stick to the scope of this blog? The scope is flexible. It is all up to you.

Janet/Plantaliscious said...

We could always offer to package some up and send them out? They might rather enjoy it...

b-a-g said...

So glad you visited One! Slugs actually evolved from snails according to articles on the web. The shell retains moisture but doesn't offer much protection from predators. Slugs can hide under stones to stop themselves dehydrating and to escape from irate gardeners. I keep saying that I'm going to do something to deal with them but I haven't yet. This post gives some tips, might help with your snails too : http://www.desperategardener.com/2011/06/natural-slug-control.html

Your last question is a deep one. I need to think about it, along with Diana's (Elephant Eye) question : Why do you blog?

Stacy said...

Thinking about the "scope" of your blog... My Dad used to be a buyer for a science lab, and whenever we were out shopping he'd look at everything in the store. He called it "sourcing"--the idea was that he would learn everything that the store carried, and then when he needed an item some day down the road, he'd be able to go right to it.

In a way, posts like this one are your equivalent of "sourcing"--you're showing what's in your garden and exploring the parameters, and someday when you decide to design an experiment on slug barriers (...), you'll be able to factor in their ability to go over and under things, their speed, use of "radar", dislike of hard surfaces, etc. It's all raw data that may or may not be useful in an experiment with plants later on. In the meantime, the slugs are a lot of fun to read about...

The Sage Butterfly said...

I rarely see them, but I see the damage. That one is a large one. Happy 4th!

linniew said...

What a wonderful Slug Sequence! Once, years ago, I arrived home late at night and witnessed slugs mating on the outside wall of the garage. I've mostly repressed it...

Makarimi Abdullah said...

Nice post b-a-g ;) In Malaysia also have this slug, maybe different type of slug but in the same family. Maybe the people which planting the Orchids familiar with it. We call this slug 'lintah bulan' or Moon Slug, they only active at night and early morning in Malaysia. I never post this topic in my blog, bust some blog overhere posting about this http://alamorkidla.blogspot.com/2011/05/blog-post.html (so sorry i cannot find the article in English).

Masha said...

Horrible! They are everywhere in my garden eating so many of my plants... I spend almost as much time spreading snail and slug bait as watering...

b-a-g said...

Janet - if we packaged away our slugs, we would only have the British weather left to complain about.

Stacy - I like your idea of "sourcing" for potential experiments with plants. I don't feel so bad about being distracted now.

Sage Butterfly , Orchid (thanks for the link) & Masha - We are continents apart yet we have at least one thing in common.

Linnie - I used to think that finding a slug was the worst possible gardening trauma - until I found two.

fer said...

That is one plump and nice looking slug. good that it decided to go back to the woodlands. I wish the ones on my garden decided to go away as well.

Esther Montgomery said...

I have slugs a plenty in my garden - and they are easy to find. Do you think your blogging friend might like me to post some to her?

Esther

b-a-g said...

fer - if you can't beat them, make friends with them.

Esther - Thanks for the offer, but I'm pretty sure that these photos will satisfy anyone who might be curious about slugs. I deliberately posted high resolution photos to capture every detail.

Malar said...

I'm new to your blog!
So this is slug! As one said, w only have snails here. That's very huge pest!

b-a-g said...

Welcome Malar - You need to have a chat with Orchid (please see comment above).

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