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Post by sweetleaf on Oct 10, 2006 19:32:38 GMT
I saw a huge, orange slug, quite beautifully marked,(for a slug) struggling to get across my patio today, and for the first time I took a really good look at it, it was crawling with tiny white fast moving specks, and it was writhing with discomfort...my question is this, do slugs have fleas, or mites?........  BTW it now resides in slug heaven |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 10, 2006 19:45:16 GMT
In this months Gardens Monthly magazine it said that the big black slugs that we get (which are also sometimes orange) aren't pests because they only eat decaying matter, not stuff that's growing. Is that right ? I thought all slugs & snails were "the enemy".
I usually kill the big black/orange ones but I'd rather not have to if possible. Can anyone answer my question.
Thanks
FA x
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Post by Juliet on Oct 10, 2006 20:34:13 GMT
Hi FA, yes, I think that's right - the big black slugs don't eat living plants - it's the small brown beggars we need to look out for. Bill Oddie said it on Springwatch earlier this year & I looked it up on a wildlife site at the time to see whether he was right as there was some talk about it on the Beeb - can't now find the site to post the link though so you'll have to take Bill's word for it!
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Post by jlottie on Oct 10, 2006 21:05:30 GMT
All slugs make my skin crawl especially the big black and orange ones, I really wouldn't like to be that close to get a good look  I think it must be true though, that the black and orange ones only eat decaying matter as there are loads around my compost area - yuk - and its the smaller grey ones that tend to eat the plants |
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Post by anneliesje on Oct 10, 2006 21:25:54 GMT
My garden is the refuge for all the brown YUK slugs in my area! Never saw an orange one. Good to know they are doing good things. If I spot one, I will leave them alone!  |
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Post by Spruance on Oct 10, 2006 21:32:51 GMT
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Post by magrich on Oct 10, 2006 22:10:52 GMT
now I feel much better!! when I saw slugs trying to get out of my compost bin I pushed them back in ( with a big stick!) I only did it because I didn't want to meet them on the path, but now I can say I did it to give them a feast.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 11, 2006 7:01:26 GMT
I saw a huge, orange slug, quite beautifully marked,(for a slug) struggling to get across my patio today, and for the first time I took a really good look at it, it was crawling with tiny white fast moving specks, and it was writhing with discomfort...my question is this, do slugs have fleas, or mites?........ BTW it now resides in slug heaven Have a read of paragraph 6, sweetleaf - very interesting it is too.  www.the-piedpiper.co.uk/th11a.htm |
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Post by sweetleaf on Oct 11, 2006 7:13:35 GMT
Thanks Rita, that answers my question, even slugs have something that doesnt mind biting them!  |
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Post by Plocket on Oct 11, 2006 7:28:17 GMT
I guess I'm going to have to be a bit nicer to slugs in the future then - if I see them I sprinkle salt on them as they are usually heading for a clematis!
Funnily enough LP and I had a talk about death this morning. I said that different people believed different things: some thought it was just going to sleep and never waking up; others believed that after dying you went up into heaven and could look down over those you loved; and other people believed you turned into something else like a cat or a rabbit, or even another person. We then talked about grandad and LP liked the idea of him looking out for her. And finally she announced that she wanted to be a rabbit after she died. I said that if she was a good girl she might be able to choose, but asked what she thought she would turn into if she was a naughty girl. She said that if she was a naughty girl for all her life she'd turn into a slug!!!
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Post by sleepysunday on Oct 11, 2006 8:20:19 GMT
I once dated a girl who had been a rabbit in a former life. I had to end our relationship though as she was wearing me out!
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Post by Deleted on Oct 11, 2006 11:12:30 GMT
SS, did she think she had been a rabbit ... or do you think she was?
Re. slugs ... last night there was the most amazing downpour, and I was looking up at the attic window trying to get to sleep while rain battered down - when I saw, this is quite serious, a slug making its way slowly across the window. Amazing climbing prowess and endurance to get to the top of the roof at around 1 foot every 15 minutes. Mind you, I still think the best place for slugs is the bottom of a beer trap! ;D ... cheers ...
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Post by sleepysunday on Oct 11, 2006 11:44:11 GMT
Sorry CC, I thought I had been clear enought to explain. Lets just say that she had definite rabbit-like traits.
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Post by Rosefriend on Oct 11, 2006 11:51:07 GMT
sleepy sleepy...... ;D
I do not have anything against slugs and they can live where ever they want ....but NOT in my garden. They die......salt is never far away.
There was a bit in a local paper recently saying that if you throw them into next doors garden (like I do) they just come back. Apparently they need to be taken nearly a Km away or they find their way back......
Mind you, - as mine are dead when I chuck them over..... well I know that they are not coming back...........
Rosefriend
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Post by Deleted on Oct 11, 2006 11:51:28 GMT
Sorry CC, I thought I had been clear enought to explain. Lets just say that she had definite rabbit-like traits. Perhaps you should PM CC to explain  |
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Post by Rosefriend on Oct 11, 2006 11:56:47 GMT
I think that Sleepy should rest his case personally Rita, - I haven't stopped laughing since he posted the remark.
Rosefriend
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Post by sleepysunday on Oct 11, 2006 12:00:26 GMT
I wonder how many levels of quotes you can do? Sorry... mind drifting there. Yes Rita, might be a good idea |
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Post by sweetleaf on Oct 11, 2006 12:02:38 GMT
I wonder how many levels of quotes you can do? Sorry... mind drifting there. Yes Rita, might be a good idea I reckon theres no need to explain, none of us are that dim! |
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Post by sweetleaf on Oct 11, 2006 12:03:49 GMT
obviously you cant have that many levels of quotes!
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Post by sleepysunday on Oct 11, 2006 12:05:29 GMT
This is not necessarily true. If you blindfold them before chucking them into your neighbours garden then only a small proportion of them will come back. You can reduce this further by alternating which neighbours garden you chuck them into also.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 11, 2006 12:06:31 GMT
Actually, I can be awfully dim Sweetleaf ... but I think I get SS's drift ;D <thinking of all the people I know who were slugs in a previous life smiley> ... cheers ...
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Post by Deleted on Oct 11, 2006 12:07:59 GMT
I must say that I have never tried this..... but.... paint a snail with nail varnish for identifications purposes, then throw it over your neighbours fence. |
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Post by Rosefriend on Oct 11, 2006 12:08:11 GMT
Sorry Sleepy - I am still laughing my head off - however you are quite right - blindfold and throw the other way.....
with red nail varnish......... could be a interesting experiment... especially if I have to be on my hands and knees all the next day trying to find the damn thing.........
Rosefriend
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Post by sweetleaf on Oct 11, 2006 12:11:35 GMT
Sleepy, how exactly do you blindfold a slug? Can you post some instructions?  |
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Post by sleepysunday on Oct 11, 2006 13:27:15 GMT
Instructions may be a little over the top (don't want to insult your intelligence), but here is a slug I blindfolded earlier:  |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 11, 2006 13:28:31 GMT
But that's not a real slug sleepy ;D
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Post by sleepysunday on Oct 11, 2006 13:31:00 GMT
Of course it's a real slug! They just don't photograph very well.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 11, 2006 13:33:47 GMT
Nah ........ reals slugs have their eyes at the end of their tentacles |
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Post by Chuckles on Oct 11, 2006 13:45:14 GMT
I must say that I have never tried this..... but.... paint a snail with nail varnish for identifications purposes, then throw it over your neighbours fence. I'm sure I recall a friend of mine doing this with snails and monitoring how many came back and how long it took them to return, I think she colour coded them for different days of the week. ;D ;D She is still my friend ;D ;D |
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Post by sleepysunday on Oct 11, 2006 13:49:35 GMT
Stop talking dirty Rita. And of course they don't! They wouldn't be able to see where they were going when they had their trousers on, now would they?
BTW did you know that a slug's real name is gastropod?
Gastro - meaning stomach
Pod - meaning foot
In a simitar way we get the word politics
Poly - meaning many
Tics - meaning blood-sucking little pests
Interesting where words come from, eh?
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BTW it now resides in slug heaven
