Banana Slugs

Good poem wannadanc!
I am not a northwest native and my first encounter with a slug was just gross! Our family was hiking Wallace Falls, I leaned against a large tree to get a drink and take a rest... If there is such a thing, I Ieaned against a herd of slugs! I had slime all over my hands, in my hair, all over my clothes. I had no idea what I had got into, my DH was laughing his behind off, I still had no idea what was all over me! He was laughing so hard at my expressions he couldn't tell me what it was. Finally he caught his breath and let me know it was a slug. I was still clueless, he explained to me that it was like a snail without a shell. Mind you the only snail I ever saw was in a fish aquarium.... I could not get the slime off of me and was totally grossed out at the thought of having to walk around with that all over me. Needless to say from that time on I have no desire to see a live slug, snail or slimy thing anywhere...and if I do I am bigger and more dominant and I have big sticks, rocks, or gardening tools and I don't see them long...(evil laugh inserted) mwhahaha!!!

Great poem. I'm going to have to pass that on.

I don't know why I have such a kind heart for slugs. I think it's the fact that 1. We find them uglier since they don't have a beautiful shell. Kind of like we tolerate squirrels much better than rats, and I'm convinced it's just because of the pretty tail, and 2. I can't imagine how much "yuck" we'd be wandering around in if it weren't for these little warriers that do the dirty work of composting and recycling.

Most people will tell you that I have a heart much bigger than my brain. There's the time I called 911 for the possum. I don't think it was unusual, but many people think I'm a cook.

I do draw the line at wasps, termites, carpenter ants. And if the coyotes get another cat of mine, I'm going to have to revise my "everybody has to eat" outlook into "let's see who's really higher up on the foodchain."

I have found that slug slime comes off much more easily with wiping than with washing. I know that I usually head for the sink to wash my hands, which doesn't do much good. First, head for a paper towel and pull it off - then do the washing.

Cocoajuno - I don't know if there's any way to recover from an experience such as yours. Especially since it sounds like it was your initial introduction to slugs.

Kathy

I remember the days of youth, making money picking strawberries on a farm in Fall City. Boys will be boys, and my brother and his friends would toss berries at each other to see who could catch them in their mouths whilst jumping for them. Should I tell you that someone tossed a slug instead of a berry toward my brother? Should I tell you that my brother was a good catcher??? Ewwwww - probably I shouldn't tell you that.

Oh, oh, oh, ewwwwwwww.

Still shuddering. I could tell that was coming even before I got to the punch.

Hairs are up on my neck.

Kathy

Slug with a roof - Love it!
I dispatch with them in various locations depending on whether they are natives or intruders. And, since I have greater love for my Garter snakes, I find it rewarding to help them in the food department.
I went out rather late one evening last summer, & was gathering slugs on a shovel. Well, the shovel reached its capacity, and since I was next to the fence, decided to perform an Olympic style feat, a la discus throw, into the detention pond next door. Glad I stopped in mid-fling: there were teenagers inside the detention pond fence drinking alcohol & making a grand attempt at going unnoticed. The slugs flew off the shovel & slapped onto my side of the fence, in a sort of bullet fashion. It was all I could do to keep from snorting, I was laughing so hard. Can you imagine being with your buddies, having copped an alcohol buzz, when the next thing you know - slugs are raining down from above? Sobriety would arrive quickly.
Food for thought: I read somewhere long ago, that people would react negatively if flowers crawled like spiders (with legs) or flew like insects (with stingers).
I have an extreme distaste for mosquitoes, yellow jackets, flies & poisonous snakes. Thank God we only have to contend with the first 3.

These are great stories!! We ought to put together a book.

Kathy

LOL - I was doing the "ewwwwww" thing until I read about the shovel full and the surprise the teens almost got!!! Now I'm just plain laughing.

I usually throw the darn things into the nasty meadow area in back of me - way in back of the trees that Poochella gave me . . . in hopes they will eat blackberries, nettles, and thistle. HA.

OMG! Rotflol. Two images, one, raining slugs-oh the look on their faces would have been worth a lot. And two, highly accelerated slugs, antennae out, head-on into the fence, a la old-time cartoons......

It's funny how many of us will throw them. I'll toss them occasionally, and they also get dumped in my giant "clean green" rolling tote along with the nasty weeds, rose thorns, etc. Future city compost! I read a book by a local Portland woman called "Slug Tossing". It was all about her learning to garden in her first house in Portland. She'd toss them into the street figuring that she wasn't actually killing them that way. Apparently, more than once she got someone's windshield who drove by at the wrong moment.

LOL - what a great visual!!!

Accelerated slugs with extended antennae
Windshield slime
slugs with roof
slug discus - they might like this one in Beijing 2008...

I went back to the top & read the whole thing all over again, mainly to laugh, but also to avoid the removal of the dreaded evil weeds...
I do believe a book is in order.
I know the sound of multiple slugs slapping against the wood fence - imbedded in my memory forever.
But the sound of one hitting a windshield, not to mention the various sounds/string of expletives that would originate from the vehicle's occupant(s).
almost makes me want to conduct a study...


This message was edited Aug 31, 2007 8:36 PM

I hadn't really considered the sound a barrage of slugs slapping against the fence would make-you got me laughing all over again!

Katye, plmk if you do that study, lol!!!! Maybe you could do a comparison to see if there is a correlation between vehicle type and the preferred profanity, or if slug variety was more of a variable for the type of expletive. Those tiger slugs do seem slimier than the others.

If there's a book, maybe wannadanc's card could be on the cover, and of course the poem will have to have a place of honor....

What a great read for the first day of September!!!!!!

I got such a kick out of the "beyond the fence" story - bet we could all tell many stories of things that got pitched over the fence, into the "out of sight, out of mind" world.

I get the absolute "willies" at the thought of picking up a slug, unless I have on my garden gloves - the throwaway type. I don't even want that slime on my real ones. I am most apt to find some stick and make a slug-kabob......or even use my pruners to make a 2-fer slug.

In some other thread, I was reading about using a 10% ammonia solution to spray around the damp edges of walkways and such - to eliminate the eggs/babies. I might have to give some serious thought to that.

As for slugs on the windshield - OMG!!!!!! We are all accustomed to bug splat, to bird poo, to cat footprints, but SLUGS???

LOL - yes, a book is in order, me thinks!!!!!!!

I did not realize that others did slug-kabobs...obviously I am in good company.

On a more serious note (if you're a slug, this is uber-serious, sorry), I have used the ammonia/water solution. You don't need much. 10 to 1 sounds good for the babies. But plants don't like ammonia, so have a hose or a container of water to rinse any plants with.
I had previously considered a moat of cheap beer around my property, but then found the ammonia solution to work quite well. The lingering ammonia smell kept the dogs out of certain areas, which is a plus.

If a slug-kabob hits a solid object (like a partying teenager's head - but only as an example) does it become a slug-kablob?
And speaking of the willies - why do they insist on crawling into the toe area of my garden clogs?
And have you imagined it from their point of view? - your foot is a 5-headed monster entering the nice little cave they found....no - don't go there!