I stepped outside at midnight yesterday, to look at the sky and wonder if it were going to rain. Good thing I looked down, too; this big slug was crossing my path.
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| Big brown beauty, about 6 inches long. |
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| I love the rich colours, and that elegant stripe down the head. On the far left is the breathing pore, the pneumostome. This one is so far open that I can see the inner cavity. |
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| If you look closely, you can see the mite on the lower edge of his mantle. I think there was only one; it won't do him any damage. |
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| A shy, "be nice to me" look in his eyes. |
He was so pretty, and yet so dangerous to my garden. What to do? I couldn't murder him in cold blood; I picked him up gently in a garden trowel and tossed him into the cedars on the far side of the lawn. I hope he finds good feasting there. Maybe he can keep the bindweed under control.
That is a very handsome slug. I'm glad you didn't do anything permanent to it!
ReplyDeleteHe looks so sweet in that last picture! :)
ReplyDeleteYou have captured him very well in your photos. He is handsome enough to toss. I have a lot of black ones this year, and have not been so kind to them.
ReplyDeleteThats the biggest slug i've seen in close to 10 yrs. Used to be over run with slugs and snails but for some reason they've gradually gone away and we just get the odd little slug now and snails are even smaller and rarer. Not that i want them back but it is a mystery.
ReplyDeleteLorraina,
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen too many slugs these last couple of years, either. Mostly, this year, only a few tiny greys have shown up.
We were ripping out a mess of old cotoneaster this afternoon, and found snails everywhere underneath. No slugs, though.
Underrated and unloved creatures are slugs.
ReplyDeleteClearly limited as pets, but interesting nonetheless.