Slugs and snails, the gardener’s fiends
White-lipped snail (Cepaea hortensis)It is just emerging from its shell, its horns poking out
Why is it that slugs are so repulsive while snails are quite appealing? After all, they are effectively the same animal, the obvious difference being the slug’s lack of portable accommodation, although some slugs have an internalised soft shell, which is used to store minerals.
Both are gastropods in the classification of molluscs, belonging in the same family as clams, oysters, and other shellfish. They have one muscular foot by which they move, aided by the mucus secreted from glands. Not only is the slime a lubricant, it also acts as a kind of fixative, which allows them to climb up vertical surfaces and not crash to the ground. Slugs evolved from snails, in much the same counterintuitive way that snakes evolved from lizards.
Their most noticeable retractable tentacles are the ones that end in eyes, the other less evident ones being used to sense the surface they are moving across. Slugs and snails have poor eyesight, though they can tell the difference between light and dark, meaning that they can navigate towards darker, safer places. They rely on taste, smell and vibrations to find food and potential mates.
Snails live for two to three years in the wild, but may live longer in captivity.
In cold weather, snails hibernate in sheltered places, like drain covers or plant pots, sealing the entrance to their shells with mucus.
Slugs live for six to twelve months, exceptionally about eighteen months, and do not hibernate. They lay eggs in the autumn which hatch in the spring. Mature slugs burrow underground if the temperature falls below 5˚C (41˚ F) although they can withstand freezing for a short period.
In extremely hot periods, both slugs and snails aestivate, which is a kind of summer hibernation.
Gardeners attempting to foil the depredations of slugs and snails employ many deterrents, like beer traps, copper wire, cloches, or grit. Strongly aromatic plants, particularly herbs like rosemary or thyme, mint, or basil, deter the gastropods because they dislike strong smells.
However, these animals also serve a useful purpose in clearing the ground of dead leaves and corpses and dung, returning nutrients to the soil. They are also a valuable food source for birds, reptiles and mammals like badgers and foxes.
There is one species of snail that is protected in England and Wales under the Wildlife and Countryside Act of 1981. Anyone contravening the act, even handling a dead snail, is liable to a fine of £5,000 or six months in jail. It is illegal to handle them without a licence.
Roman snails (Helix pomatia) are about the size of a chicken’s egg, almost twice as large as a garden snail, and are long-lived, attaining ten to twenty years of life. They are the escargots of French cuisine and were introduced by the Romans, as a source of food. Numbers were greatly increased by mediaeval monasteries in England cultivating them for food. They are widespread in southern England, principally in the Chilterns, the North Downs, the Cotswolds, and the borders of the Mendips, all of which are largely chalky areas, but are most uncommon in suburban gardens.
The law was enacted because by 2008 some of the populations of Roman snails had been reduced almost to extinction by people collecting them to eat, either in domestic settings or in restaurants.
Roman snail (Helix pomatia) empty shells
Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons
I found this rather haunting Australian Aboriginal poem in a book of children’s poetry.
SNAILS
Sound of snails – crying
Sound drifting through the brush, sound of crying
Slime of snails, dragging themselves
Along the low-lying plain, crying;
Snails with their slime, crying.
Sound drifting through the bush: dragging themselves along, crying,
Snails, their sound blowing overhead from among the bushes.
That is most fascinating Janice ... I have just been cleaning up my worn farm & bemoaning all the slugs that seem to get into it, let alone into my veggie garden. I don't really use any deterants so I guess I must be prepared to put up with them. That poem at the end is quite haunting. xx
ReplyDeleteSlugs get everywhere and can squeeze through small gaps. Determination!
DeleteI am currently rejoicing the fact that neither snails nor slugs have found my potato plant yet. Slugs are just homeless snails according to my children years ago.
ReplyDeleteThat's a great description of slugs. 😁
DeleteI despise killing slugs (or anything) though I make myself do it on early morning forays into the garden. Now what will I do after reading the poem?
ReplyDeleteI don't like killing things, either. Everything has its place, though it's sometimes hard to see why.
DeleteI'm reminded of the joke:
ReplyDeleteQuestion: "What did the slug say to the snail?"
Answer: "Big Issue, sir?"
🤣😂
DeleteSnails seem to do more damage than slugs. I forget how it worked now but my stepfather made me a snail trap in the 1980s and it was very effective but I ended up with buckets of drowned snail that soon smelt very bad. You probably think I am a mass murderer now. Actually, it is ok as I don't think they were native snails. I was doing environmental control.
ReplyDeleteEach to their own, Andrew. You just deprived a few birds and mammals of a tasty snack.
DeleteI'm not a fan of the huge slugs in my garden this year!
ReplyDeleteThey are repulsive.
DeleteThe snails are very delicate creatures. The pattern on the shells is lovely too
ReplyDeleteSnail shells are very pretty, sometimes.
DeleteI much prefer snails to slugs, but prefer they are not eating my plants.
ReplyDeleteYes, they should know their place . . .
DeleteI know that slugs have their place in our ecosystem but I do wish they wouldn't eat every last plant in our veg patch.
ReplyDeleteYou'd think they'd learn after a while, but I suppose they don't get the chance to learn by experience!
DeleteI am not fond of the predations of the herbivorous ones on my lettuces and delphiniums, but having found a non-poisonous way to protect the plants I have called a truce. The big fats ones that eat the hedgehog food however get unceremoniously lobbed into the trees next door. Hedgehogs prefer not to eat them apparently (and they infect animals with lung worms).
ReplyDeleteSlugs have a ceremonial burial at sea (in the garden pond.) It's cruel , really.
ReplyDeleteThe ick meter runs high on slugs.
ReplyDeleteI agree. They're not beautiful beasts.
DeleteThose snail shells are beautiful. This is the first I've heard of Roman snails. I've never tried to eat snails I've found in my garden but I have no tolerance for slugs. They eat my hostas. Just ugh.
ReplyDeleteHostas always fall to the slugs.
DeleteI can't stand slugs or snails because of the damage they do to plants but I realise they have a place in nature........just feels like there are far too many of them in our garden, this year in particular there have been literally hundreds - ugh 😑
ReplyDeleteThe poem is very lovely.
Alison in Wales x
It's been so wet, and that's a gift to snails and slugs.
DeleteSince we've given up our house and yard I haven't seen a single snail or slug.
ReplyDeleteThat's a blessing.😀
DeleteSlugs and snails are not a serious problem in my garden and I live as amicably as possible with them.
ReplyDeleteThat's the best attitude to have and I'm sure the slugs and snails agree! 🐌
DeleteThat's fortunate. Maybe your climate is not quite so damp as ours. 😀
ReplyDeleteThis was certainly an interesting read.Who knew? We get a lot of slugs in our yard and walkways. They don't seem to bother our flowers.
ReplyDeleteThat's interesting. Perhaps they don't find your flowers palatable. 🐌
DeleteSome speciaes of snails have such pretty shells.
ReplyDeleteThey really do, and have pretty colours, too.
DeleteI'm not too keen on either snails or slugs but like so many 'creatures' they have their place in nature.
ReplyDeleteThe markings on those you've included in your post are lovely.
All the best Jan
They don't endear themselves to many people, I know.
DeleteYikes, disgusting ! I had to ate once snails and in the night I dreamed that they all crawled out of my mouth !! It's a delicacy here !!!!
ReplyDeleteI've never eaten snails and gave up cockles and winkles many years ago, after I'd looked at them too closely!
DeleteHa, I never thought of either snails or slugs as being appealing really, but of the two snails are definitely more appealing than slugs! I know some people love eating snails. Not me. The idea sickens me.
ReplyDeleteNot for me, either. They do not appeal at all.
DeleteSlugs are slimy! I know snails are too but they hide it well.
ReplyDeleteWe can forgive them for that! 🐌
DeleteI don't have too much trouble with snails or slugs in my garden fortunately. I use a lot of grit and copper tape which helps and try to encourage as many birds as possible to enjoy a free party.
ReplyDeleteThe information about this group of gastropods is facinating even if I don't relish their company in my garden patch.