slugs and other thugs

	
	In keeping with the old adage that one must know the enemy - here is
the beginning of a diatribe on the lowlife that we call 'slugs and snails'.
They are mollusks, subclass Pulmonata.
	Some claim that slugs are gaining a sort of popularity today.  They've
been chosen to be the SCHOOL MASCOT by the Univ. of CA, Santa Cruz (only in
California could this happen...) They are the object of festivals (!) and 
various retail goodies from T-shirts to dolls and replicas.....Tom, think
Anne-Marie would like a SLUG doll?  I can't believe it, myself.
	Slugs come in shades of pink, brown, beige, black and gray with or
without spots.  Here in Northern New Hampshire, I see the beige variety most
often but the brown is second and gray coming in third - always without
spots.  (I see a lot of slugs that is why I am taking the time to study
them - they are the only creature that truly disgusts me and is in a declared
war with me.)
	Slugs thrive in moist, moderate climates like the Pacific Northwest,
California and southeastern Alaska (?) but they are found throughout most of
the United States and southern Canada.
	Snails are fancy slugs, condo included.  Most often they are a shade
of dirty brown with some spots or stripes. (I see snails seldom but the few
I happen upon have stripes.)
			       	SLIME
	This is the operant word since both slugs and snails excrete lots of
it as they crawl around doing their dirty destruction....this is the red flag
for you, the gardener, that they plan to engage you in a protracted 
battle(s). What works against them one week may be utterly useless the 
next week.  It is crucial to have several plans of attack at the ready.
				LIFE CYCLE
	They are hermaphroditic, possessing both male and female sex organs,
but need a partner to cross-fertilize.  Although it can take them all day to
mate, at only a few months of age each can lay hundreds of eggs a year, which
hatch in only three weeks, ready to repeat the cycle.  The eggs are tough and
elastic and not very vulerable to small predators, BUT they will dry up 
if not kept moist. (One reason JI's have so many slugs.)
	Extreme weather, either too hot or too cold, causes SNAILS to stop
laying eggs and go dormant, a condition they can tolerate for up to FOUR
years.  (See how long-lived they are!)

	I am going to give hints everyday for deterrence and/or execution.
Today I am going to repeat two things mentioned in March:

		1) Handpicking - A predawn flashlight raid where the offenders
are dropped into a pail of salted water to finish them off when they're 
still groggy. Carolyn was right on track when she spritz them with salt (or
white vinegar) - leaves them dead in their slimy tracks as does lime juice.
		2) Slug juice - remember? - Put the remains of a cup or
two of dead slugs into a blender, PUREEING them, and then straining the 
resulting mush.  Spray on live slugs.......kills them, supposedly.
	
	Stay tuned,

	Ellen Gallagher e_galla@moose.ncia.net 
          Lancaster, NH - USDA Zone 3
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