Mother and baby doing well.... aaahh. Pictures by bonkersbon

Yuk. Whose direction are these going Bonkers?

Everyone wants to squish them Chris and my plan is to save the slug! Ok they dont look nice but what do they actually eat ? If you plant marigolds like little soldiers around your garden my slugs will munch them . They are an army that trying to return gardens to their natural state.
Oh everyone loves water snails but wants to kill land ones - think they all have a purpose ( ok I accept what are wasps for ?) so we should learn to live with them.Your garden looks natural Chris so pretty safe.

I place all my caught slugs/snails into the Wild Garden Area Bonkers&letm munch on whats in there :)next yr im goin2plant some cabbages around my wild area2 feed the Caterpillairs 2:)

I did get a bit upset when I came home and found my young Spring cabbage seedlings which were in a pot on the patio had been totally demolished by 1 green caterpillar.

Thats a nice idea Jacque yes I tend to do the same with them in nettles and brambles.At least I dont give them to neighbours like some have confessed to !

Its such a shame Chris - how many of us love the butterfly photos but find it hard to tolerate caterpillars?

YUK. No, I'm sorry but I DO squish them. There are already plenty in my "wildlife" area (aka, weedy patch at the bottom of the garden). With snails, I tend to fling them into my weirdo neighbour's garden.....naughty, naughty I know, but VERY satisfying.

Oh so thats where I get them from and now I know what you call me . Off the christmas card list then. lol

That's a long throw from Twickenham to North Yorks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Aye Chris not quite as far as where Irish got hers from .

is it eating a raisin??

Yes Newfie have a theory that if you give them something more tasty they leave your tender plants alone.If any birds eat slugs then they taste better full of raisins!

Appreciate that many hate the slimy things but I have a sneaking admiration for their tenacity , what ever done to them they return .

oh my.....I guess we all have our own way of looking at things ;) .....I do admire those that think for themselves...lol

or!!!! get a catapult ;-)

Clues in the name Newfie.. think Id need a rocket to get them to Newfoundland Lyd where I m sure they d get a warm welcome !

I'm sure the gardeners in Newfoundland don't want your slugs either...but I confess I can understand where you are coming from BB...they have their own niche in nature and should be able to survive too...I would add mosquitoes and blackflies (our blood sucking blackflies) to the list of no good critters...but the snail and the slug are the garbage men of the garden and not all natural gardens are weed patches either. I prefer to kill them with kindness (of a sort) I drown them in beer!! don't seem to have too many though...I also encourage frogs and toads to come and set up shop in my garden. Have seen sparrows checking out the undergrowth...perhaps they like slugs too. That's why natural gardening is so tough to perfect...so many variables. But when you do find a balance it's Eden.

Do you reckon that the hedgehogs like to drink the beer that the slugs have drowned in ? An especially tasty snack for them, I would have thought...euwwwwww.

I am reliably informed that there are no slugs to the north of Ravenscar. And no caterpillars to the north of Robin Hoods Bay. - LoL.

Too bad we don't have hedgehogs in Cda... we do have raccoons and skunks and bears...but the only thing I've found that disturbs the beer is my dog... wondered why she had the hiccups.?

Lori. When in Canada I once smelt a skunk (Boss lady says I smell LIKE a skunk). You can keep them. I even prefer slugs, but hedgehogs are nice.

LOL... Sarraceniac...I have seen hedgehogs offered as exotic pets...they are rather appealing ... a friend of my youth found an orphaned skunk kit...and wanted to keep it for a pet!! it started dropping little scent bombs as it matured and had to be reintroduced to the wild life! Can you imagine?? My dog, Mandy, got sprayed by a skunk and it took six months for the smell to disappear completely...I used tomato juice and many bottles of a very expensive enzymatic shampoo...it was a terrible experience...so be thankful that she says you smell LIKE a skunk...cause the real thing would be too terrible to contemplate!!LOL...

There is a university in the town that I lived in before the one I do now and their mascot is, wait for it... a banana slug!!! Go UCSC Banana Slugs!! Gotta love it. There are a lot of fun-loving hippie types, + many other types in Santa Cruz. I miss the diversity of my old town.

Wow a banana slug how cool is that? Did they dress up and cheer lead for them? Thanks for sharing that Tasteyg nice to know theres a town somewhere in the world mad on slugs! see I am not alone.