Slugs 'n' Snails
Dec. 15th, 2024 11:47 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hobby_gardeningI have a large box to contain the various types of bird seed and peanuts. There, every day, I fill the bird feeders. There's a certain amount of overspill, contained within the box. Every once in a while, maybe annually, I pull the box out into the lawn and tip out the contents. The birds have a feast.
The box has to be turned upside down and given a thump to get all the seeds out. It was then I noticed many snails and a few slugs, resting in the recessed rim of the box. We're constantly told that these gastropods are the gardener's worst enemy. All my plants that they might eat are set upon or within copper mesh which these creatures cannot cross. They're not my enemies. Indeed they're part of the decomposition process, making rotting plant material available in the soil once more.
These molluscs are known as, simply, The Garden Snail. They are eaten in some places though, I hasten to add, not here! I assume they are hibernating under my box. Wikipedia tells me they are hermaphrodites and have mating sessions of several hours! In a year they may produce six batches of fifty or so eggs. If it wasn't for hungry birds we would be overwhelmed by snails.
Such fascinating creatures!
The box has to be turned upside down and given a thump to get all the seeds out. It was then I noticed many snails and a few slugs, resting in the recessed rim of the box. We're constantly told that these gastropods are the gardener's worst enemy. All my plants that they might eat are set upon or within copper mesh which these creatures cannot cross. They're not my enemies. Indeed they're part of the decomposition process, making rotting plant material available in the soil once more.
These molluscs are known as, simply, The Garden Snail. They are eaten in some places though, I hasten to add, not here! I assume they are hibernating under my box. Wikipedia tells me they are hermaphrodites and have mating sessions of several hours! In a year they may produce six batches of fifty or so eggs. If it wasn't for hungry birds we would be overwhelmed by snails.
Such fascinating creatures!
