Image: Pixabay
They are getting earlier…I checked, it was April last year. Granted, last year they had a step to navigate, while the new place allows free ingress over the threshold, but this year, the first slug of spring slithered in through the door on the last Sunday of February. Ani alerted me to the intrusion by singing to the skirting board beside the garden door where the stealthy invasion was happening. I carefully removed the invader, replacing it in the garden… there is no point in even contemplating a more distant location; they are, it seems, homing slugs.
I have tried all the traditional ways of discouraging them, but stop short of deliberate destruction. The odd accident has happened, including squishing and the inadvertent drowning of the two-feather slug,
The fish, happily swimming in their enclosed world, neither know nor would they care about the slug. Their artificially heated environment removes all need to notice the outside world unless it is about to threaten or feed them. Ani, herself more attuned to Nature’s cycles than we mere humans, will not change her stance… invaders of any kind simply do not happen on her watch, regardless of how many legs they may, or may not have.
It is odd how differently we can see the same thing, depending on our perspective. Even as I cringingly removed the small invader, I was still glad to see it. All others of his kind that cross my threshold… and there will doubtless be many… will recieve a chillier reception. Their nature has not changed, only where I stand in relation to them. And whether or not I start wearing slippers…
For the rest of the year I will curse their kind, like all gardeners and all who go blithely barefoot in their own home., forgetting the possible presence of such intruders. But the first slug of spring marks a passage from chill to warmth.
Sue Vincent's Daily Echo 
The first slug of spring… too funny. It is funny how we individually mark the change in seasons. I celebrated the return of the chipmunk who lives under my house (and no doubt causing damage) this past weekend.
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I wondered one year how the slugs survived the cold of winter… and was fascinated by what I read. That first slug of spring now has a special place. The second slug will get a very different welcome 😉
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This made me chuckle. Ani on the alert to all forms of invasion! I am waiting for our first mosquito – already saw our first carpenter bee. Spring is indeed early.
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It seems to be,though you wouldn’t think so today… rain and bitterly cold.
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Oh I hope this means it will be warmer in the Peak in April this year 🙂
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We are doing our best 😉
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🙂
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For me, it’s seeing the first lambs in the fields which marks the arrival of spring. Much prettier than slugs!
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I can agree with that…but this year, the slug came first 🙂
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Hmm..not fond of slugs but the colony of ladybirds in my bathroom window frame briefly woke up 🙂
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I think I wold rather have ladybirds than slugs…and I miss my overwintering butterflies..
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Yes, I always look for my ladybird family when it starts getting cold…slugs can stay outside though!
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I sort of wish they would 🙂
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The first slug of the spring? You’re lucky – we’re plagued by the things all year. We think they must be some kind of mutant superspecies, or maybe even goblins in disguise! We don’t like slugs because they spread lungworm. Millie and Pearl xx
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Ni, Ani doesn’t like them either for the same reason…never touches, just sings xx
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That’s a novel way of dealing with them, Ani! Perhaps we’ll try it xx
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It gets them removed pretty quickly 😉 xxx
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Ah Sue, you are a very good woman to put the slug back in your own garden. I usually throw such pests over the wall into the neighbour’s garden Tee hee!
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That wouldn’t be far enough in my case…and tehy just come back anyway 😉
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I’d rather we didn’t have slugs whether or not they signal th start of spring!! 🙂
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I could probably live without them, but they doubtless have their purpose as part of nature’s clean-up crew. 🙂
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Yes I suppose. 🙂
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🙂
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NOT my favorite creature – ugh. The thought of bare feet and stepping on one – ach!
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No, I’m not keen on having them underfoot either…but it has happened on a few occasions with the doors open wide for them… 😦
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You have very energetic slugs.
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They are also excellent at finding ingress 😉
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I don’t have a garden, so I’d be surprised but also rather pleased to discover the first slug of spring. I’d also be impressed. I have no idea how a slug would manage to push the elevator button for the eighth floor.
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Don’t issue that challenge, Bun…they’ll find a way 😉
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I’ll bet they will at that! 🙂
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Everywhere, they get… ninja slugs…
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They are famed for their speed, stealth and agility (apart from the speed and agility). 🙂
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Don’t underestimate them… that is just a disguise 😉
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Saw the first bluebird a weeks ago, definitely more welcome than slugs!
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