Garden Slug
How often have you heard someone, particularly a gardener, say a nice word about a slug?
S-L-U-G may be the most dreaded letters for the person who enjoys growing vegetable in the backyard. The slimly little pests can cause wide-spread damage and can also be very difficult to get rid of.
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These garden crashers are hermaphroditic, meaning they have both female and male sex organs. However, the sperm and ova mature at different times, which lead to the creature having male and female stages. They are known for performing elaborate courtship dances. After mating, they produce gelatinous eggs and lay them in the soil. An individual can lay twenty to thirty colorless oval eggs.
Firm believers in the seize-the-moment philosophy, slugs waste little time making nuisances of themselves. They are active as soon as they emerge from the eggs and will crawl and feed immediately, assuming the temperature and humidity is appropriate. Young hungry members of the species can do considerable damage to a garden before the effects are noticed. It sometimes takes several days for the injured plants to be noticed by a gardener because the slugs eat away at surface tissue.
Most people recognize the pest on site. It has a soft, blob-like, un-segmented body that is covered in a leathery skin. The eyes are located on tentacles attached to the head. Its body color can vary greatly.
