I’ve never seen the current ones we have around the garden before - I had to google them to find out their name. Has anyone else noticed a change with the nasty things - they’ve ruined my hostas even though I’ve put slug pellets, gravel and broken egg shells on top of the soil in the pots. I must admit I don’t like treading on them cos they go all squelchy so I’m prone to pouring salt over them. I’m not generally a murderer of wild life but there isn’t really any place in my garden for these little buggers.
Leopard slugs don’t tend to eat live plants and prefer dead and decaying vegetation, By killing them you are leaving room in your ecosystem for the little grey slugs (which one doesn’t notice as much) to proliferate. So actually making things worse for your hostas, not better!
More slugs this year than others probably due to the weather plenty of snails, I’ve seen more vipers in the garden and along paths.
Bird numbers seem to have shrunk again.
Hardly any flea beatles.
Hello @JaneJones
Thanks for the info about the leopard slugs preferring dead and decaying vegetation. So how do I get rid of them - I’ve noticed there are quite a few in our composting bins so perhaps I should put them in there ?
Maybe I’ve accused them of eating my hostas when really it was the snails!
Your brown slugs are alive and well, flourishing along the country lanes in my area.
I walk most evenings with a pal from the Mairie…
(it’s when I quizz her with subjects from this forum ;))… anyway, she shrieked in horror when she saw 3 of these big things lying across our path… me, I didn’t bat an eyelid as I mistook 'em for dog-poo and was already taking evasive action.
That particular evening was obviously their mass migration from all over France… to our little hideaway…
'cos we saw loads… mostly in groups of 3 or 4 at a time… with the odd single one… and they were really huge beggars…
Saw them the following evening too… then they simply disappeared… like magic… lying in wait for us perhaps… who knows…
This forum never fails to amuse, and more to the point, bemuse me. Brown slugs! It almost makes me want to become one of those saddos who replies to posts with “this is all well and good, but what has this got to do with Surviving France?”, but I guess the point is that maybe the brown slugs didn’t survive France…
Never seen so many ginger slugs as this year - that and snails. Every time I walk outside I crunch on some - impossible to miss them - reminds me of a moment in Jumpers every time I do it.
