This morning was overcast, cool, and dry.
But, as it wasn’t a school day, I was determined to get some gastropod action.
This wasn’t easy, as the snails and slugs didn’t seem to be in any of their reliable hang-outs. Not even a single slug on the watering can.
My strawberries have still been nibbled, so I thought I should have a closer look at their immediate environment. The ground right around the strawberry plants was visibly more moist than the surrounding ground (because I watered the strawberry plants yesterday evening). I got down on my hands and knees and probed the soil just below the surface.
A couple wee slugs!
I repeated this around the other strawberry plants and uncovered a few more.
Satisfying as this was, it seemed like I should be able to accomplish more. While I was trying to clear my head, I worked to clear some tall grass from the mint patch near our lemon tree. There weren’t any gastropods revealed as the grass came out, but as I got closer to the trunk of the lemon tree, I noticed something shell-like under a tea rose bush.
I got on my belly to get a better look and noticed a neglected potted succulent under the tea rose. On one of its spiky leaves was a snail. I hauled it out from under the rose bush.
A veritable snail lair! Only now, with it out in the open, not such a great lair.
Today’s take: eight slugs and 22 snails.
Props for finding the plant and its associated horde of snails.
Aren’t you being a tad bit obsessive about these gastropods, Janet? I’m starting to worry about your mental health.