Bit of a silly question. This summer, pretty much everyone has slugs. The weather has been really good for slugs.
As near as I can figure, slugs are the reason I planted a garden this year. They’ve eaten pretty much everything in it. So far, it looks as though they are going to get far more food from my garden than I will.
They completely took out my pepper plants. Next year, I have to remember to plant hot peppers. Maybe a little capsaicin will change their minds. And they didn’t stop there. Many other plants met their end because of these little critters.
There are thousands of different types of slugs. They are basically mollusks without shells and come in many different sizes, colours and types. And if you ever wonder how they can work their way through your garden so fast, they have about three thousand teeth. Each.
But I suppose it could be worse. When I lived in Newfoundland we used to have not only have regular slugs, but also giant slugs. We also were overrun by snails, and as much as I love me some escargot, I never did eat any of them. But back to the giant slugs. These were not like Godzilla size slugs, but they were big. It wasn’t unusual to see a slug about six inches long wandering around your yard. I used to joke you had to be careful not to slip on the slime trails, which wasn’t far from the truth. And those slugs were apparently world travelers. I was told they arrived in the province on a shipment of hemp rope during the war. Don’t know if that’s true, but it makes a nice story for slugs to tell their children.
So I’m happy to have just various small slugs to contend with. And as much as I’d like to see the end of all slugs in my garden, it is rather interesting to see all the variety of colours and sizes of the slimy little things.
Oh… and on the slime subject, researchers are using slime from slugs and snails to come up with a better surgical glue for medical purposes. So maybe they have a purpose in the world after all. Other than being available to eat their way through my garden.
