The Slug Toss

    Yesterday afternoon on the garden path to the gate was a dark brown slug munching on a bright orange poppy petal. We dont think of slugs as actually having lives but here was proof: a slug at lunch time.

    Is munching the correct word for slugs? Google says, The [slugs] mouth is located between and below the lower tentacles, and is equipped with a radula, a tooth-covered rasp that the slug uses to grate plant tissue.

    OK, rewind. Yesterday afternoon there was a slug grating a bright orange poppy petal on the path. When it finished and amazingly quickly I fed it another petal. It was fascinating to watch and so efficient.

    But, ah, the fickleness of humans: later in the evening as the slugs ganged up to grate my beans and cilantro, I went back to my old ways and began the nightly slug toss.

    I have since discovered that caffeine is a neurotoxin for slugs, though there is some controversy about this. A study by Richard Hollingsworth of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Research Station, in Hilo, Hawaii, confirmed that a solution of 1 to 2 percent caffeine sprayed on plants killed small snails and slugs after two days but they have to eat the plant! (Note that the average cup of brewed coffee contains less than .1 percent caffeine, so it must be very, very strong.) Peter Usherwood of the University of Nottingham confirmed the results. Both agree that the caffeine solution is more effective than the accepted commercial slug bait metaldehyde. It is best to spray the solution at night and rinse it off the plants in the morning.

    I still prefer my beer garden solution though I hate to see those slugs all piled up dead afterwards.

 

Mighty mucus

    Its not the slugs I detest some of them are quite beautiful its their eating habits. And the mucousy stuff left on my hands after the toss. But, on the other hand, slug mucus, which comes in different types for different slug uses, has amazing properties and is being studied in biomimicry departments around the world.

    When slugs move about the yard, they ooze slime to create a smooth path to walk on and to keep their foot muscles safe. They can slime outward to the side and in front of them using either a thick or thin mucus; they can entirely cover themselves in slime. Plus mucus leaves a track, similar to an ant trail, for others to follow straight to my garden!

    At Ithaca College and Cornell University researchers are studying the mucus and gel of slugs and snails. It apparently alternates between a non-adhesive mucus and a gel that acts as a glue, which is how they can walk on walls. It all has to do with which proteins are in the mucus. Anyway, they are researching slug mucus to create new glues, gels and polymers for industry.

    Another phenomenal feature of slugs is that their mucus is a natural lubricant that can absorb up to 1,500 times its weight in water. Imagine how this might have been used to mitigate the New Orleans or the recent Mississippi River flooding, or in cleaning up spills.

    Also forward-thinking (or downright nutty) are the Japanese researchers at Chuo Universitys Nakamura Lab who are experimenting with Toro II, a slug robot that mimics the undulations of gastropods. Toro II is omni-directional and keeps every segment of its body on the ground as it moves for increased stability.

    Can you imagine a huge slug train moving over the country on a trail of slime? Maybe not. But they are also experimenting with slug robots that can climb walls. That might be fun.

 

Lady chickens

    Chickens eat slugs, or at least peck on them enough to do them in. Though I am tempted, I do not yet have chickens because I need fences and chickens can decimate a garden even faster than slugs. I am, of course, assuming my chickens would be free-range, organically fed, naturally-nested and fully-vested in a 401(k) retirement plan.

    Chickens need rights. Industrialized lady chickens are probably the most intensively confined farm animals in the world. Most U.S. chickens are raised in towering layers of so-called battery cages of wire that tilt the eggs out of the hens reach. Each hen has 67 cubic square inches of space to call her own. Does that sound grand? Its almost 30 square inches less than an 8 1/2 by 11 sheet of paper. She can neither spread her wings nor turn around.

    Hens, as any chicken aficionado knows, like privacy when they lay. Thats a no-go. No dust baths, nesting or perching either. Many chickens must have their beaks docked so they dont peck each other to death in these unnatural conditions.

 

Uncooped

    The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) decided enough was enough and has been pressing legislation in selected states to force chicken farmers to give hens more space. Senate Bill 805 passed both houses in Oregon and Initiative 1130, The Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act, was slated for the Washington ballot in November.

    But the HSUS pulled the measure last week because they have reached an agreement with United Egg Producers, the largest national cooperative of egg farmers, responsible for 280 million egg-laying hens.

    The agreement is not about being nicey-nicey; its an example of that good ole American political move called compromise. United Egg Producers could see the writing on the wall and didnt want piecemeal state-by-state regulations. The Humane Society compromised by agreeing to a smaller additional space for chickens than the Washington ballot measure would have called for, but went for national legislation, which will give more hens humane conditions.

    So, together the organizations will present a bill in Washington D.C. that, if passed, will ensure hens have perches, nesting boxes, scratch areas and 122 cubic square inches for white hens and 144 inches for larger brown hens. It will require that egg packages be labeled so consumers can decide if they want to buy eggs from caged hens. It will also ban the forced starvation of birds to shock them into another egg-laying cycle.

    When I want eggs, I give Captain Phil a call. I know first-hand that his chickens get an excess amount of TLC. As for the slugs, dont call me, Ill call you.