I love Slugs!!!
By alaskanray
@alaskanray (4636)
United States
July 1, 2010 2:32pm CST
Did you know that slugs perform an invaluable service to us? They process dead leaves and other plant matter into lovely rich soil. The slime that slugs produce is the strongest adhesive known and if scientists could reproduce that slime, we would have the world's strongest glue. 
I love my little slugger wuggers. I especially love the beautiful banana slug. When I was growing up in Juneau, Alaska, we had the little brown slugs that got about 1/2" long...maybe an inch. As an adult, I started making pilgrimages to my dream town of Tenakee and on one of these trips I met my first banana slug. My breath was taken away by the lovely green with black spots that this little slug had. Check out the photo. Later I was walking down the trail and saw something that looked like a long green snake going across my path but I knew that Alaska had no snake so I took a closer look. It was one of these beautiful gentle creatures, at least 18 inches long! Wow! I have since studied up on slugs and the part they play in the environment. Tenakee also has some lovely black slugs...about 2-4 inches long. They eat the dog droppings and if one gets squished, they will eat the dead slug. They are very tidy little creatures, nature's recyclers. What can I say? I LOVE SLUGS! 
I love my little slugger wuggers. I especially love the beautiful banana slug. When I was growing up in Juneau, Alaska, we had the little brown slugs that got about 1/2" long...maybe an inch. As an adult, I started making pilgrimages to my dream town of Tenakee and on one of these trips I met my first banana slug. My breath was taken away by the lovely green with black spots that this little slug had. Check out the photo. Later I was walking down the trail and saw something that looked like a long green snake going across my path but I knew that Alaska had no snake so I took a closer look. It was one of these beautiful gentle creatures, at least 18 inches long! Wow! I have since studied up on slugs and the part they play in the environment. Tenakee also has some lovely black slugs...about 2-4 inches long. They eat the dog droppings and if one gets squished, they will eat the dead slug. They are very tidy little creatures, nature's recyclers. What can I say? I LOVE SLUGS! 2 responses
@savypat (20216)
• United States
1 Jul 10
Well everything needs love and I am glad you are preforming this wonderful service. We have the banana slugs here in Oregon also. And I agree in the slug world they are beauties. I am will to leave them alone to do their job as long as they respect the eggshells I put out to protect my tomatoe plants.
1 person likes this
@alaskanray (4636)
• United States
1 Jul 10
Kudos to you for finding a humane way to keep them out of your garden.
It horrifies me how many people take sadistic pleasure in pouring salt or ammonia on them! 
It horrifies me how many people take sadistic pleasure in pouring salt or ammonia on them! @alaskanray (4636)
• United States
1 Jul 10
btw...the photo is in my profile if you want to check it out. I love it.
@burrito88 (2774)
• United States
2 Jul 10
How do you use egg shells to keep slugs away?
1 person likes this
@ElicBxn (64169)
• United States
2 Jul 10
ewwww
all the slugs I've ever seen have been about 1-3 inches long and dark brownish
they used to come out on the sidewalk in front of the house where we lived in east Austin after the rains
they weren't any fun if you stepped on them (slippery and made a disgusting noise)
You can KEEP them
happily, I think I've only seen one slug since I moved in 1984...
1 person likes this
@ElicBxn (64169)
• United States
2 Jul 10
well, they came out of the dirt because they'd drown in the rain puddles, and I didn't WANT to step on them
I mean, I know slugs are just cute little snails without a shell, but give them a shell any day!
I have a "Live and let live" attitude toward most critters, and I sure didn't want to step on one, I think I only did it once... not intentionally either
About the only things I want to kill are mosquitoes, flies, gnats, fleas, ticks and other blood suckers... (meet a few people that might have well been blood suckers and the world could do without them too.)
1 person likes this
@alaskanray (4636)
• United States
2 Jul 10
LOLLLLLL...I have to admit your reaction is pretty typical. The whole point of slug awareness is to avoid stepping on them, elic. 
I used to take the ones that were on the sidewalk and put them off in the grass so they wouldn't get stepped on or dried out. If they dry out, they will die, too. They need the moisture of the plantlife to stay moisturized.
I had a girlfriend who told me about how she and her hubby would always check the driveway before pulling their car out to make sure there were no slugs. They would put the slugs they found off in the grass so they didn't run over them. It's so nice when I find a kindred spirit like that. I found it amusing that her hubby was the same way. The guys usually get pretty sadistic with these defenseless creatures. Even more beautiful than the banana slug, though, are the sea slugs. Check out the photo on my profile. 
I used to take the ones that were on the sidewalk and put them off in the grass so they wouldn't get stepped on or dried out. If they dry out, they will die, too. They need the moisture of the plantlife to stay moisturized.
I had a girlfriend who told me about how she and her hubby would always check the driveway before pulling their car out to make sure there were no slugs. They would put the slugs they found off in the grass so they didn't run over them. It's so nice when I find a kindred spirit like that. I found it amusing that her hubby was the same way. The guys usually get pretty sadistic with these defenseless creatures. Even more beautiful than the banana slug, though, are the sea slugs. Check out the photo on my profile. 1 person likes this
@alaskanray (4636)
• United States
2 Jul 10
ROFL...I HEAR YOU LOUD AND CLEAR ON THOSE BLOODSUCKERS!!!
