Slug, also known as a snail without a shell or a “snot worm,” is often considered a pest because it feeds on young plants. In a recent incident in Germany, these mischievous creatures were suspected of ringing doorbells in the middle of the night and bothering residents, leading the police to label them as suspects. How did this happen?
According to reports from the Associated Press on September 9, the German police received a report of someone repeatedly ringing the doorbell of an apartment building late at night, causing disturbances among the residents. However, upon investigation, the culprit turned out to be a slug.
The apartment building is located in Schwabach, Bavaria. Residents of the building reported that they heard the doorbell ringing incessantly late at night, suspecting it to be the work of pranksters.
The residents expressed unease as the person ringing the doorbell did not trigger the motion sensor camera outside the front door, so there was no footage of the prankster to be found.
Upon arriving at the scene, the police discovered that the so-called prankster was actually a slug crawling on the doorbell control panel, triggering multiple rings as it moved.
A resident named Dominik told Bild newspaper: “A slug was sitting on our house number. You could even see the trail of mucus it left behind as it crawled over the sensor.”
The officers later relocated the slug to a nearby grassy area and issued a warning to the residents before releasing it.
According to the University of Minnesota, slugs typically inhabit cool and damp areas from spring to fall. They feed on a variety of plant leaves, especially seedlings, mature fruits, vegetables, and decaying plant matter. Their voracious appetite can weaken or even kill plants.
Slugs have soft bodies without legs and produce a layer of mucus to protect their skin from drying out, giving them a sticky appearance. They are usually brown or gray and range in size from a quarter to 2 inches, with some possibly larger. Slugs have two pairs of tentacles on their heads, with the larger pair carrying eyes and the lower pair used for olfaction.
Slugs are active during cool and damp nights but can also be seen in shaded areas during the day. Warm and dry environments are not favorable for them. Under suitable conditions, slugs remain active throughout the summer and fall.
When feeding, slugs use rasp-like mouthparts called radula to rasp and chew plant tissues, leaving irregular-shaped holes in leaves, flowers, and fruits. Minor to moderate feeding affects the appearance of plants but usually does not harm their health. Extensive feeding can damage plants, especially seedlings.
In a previous report by Epoch Times, encountering slugs in your garden can pose a nuisance. If you prefer not to use pesticides, there are environmentally-friendly methods to deter them, such as planting herbs, pumpkins, or hairy succulent plants in the garden to repel them. Setting up copper pieces, wires, or rings as barriers around individual plants can also protect them and prevent slugs from approaching.
Copper is effective at repelling slugs because of the mucus on their bodies – when they come into contact with copper, a weak electric current is generated, giving them a shock and serving as a deterrent mechanism.