Sono la Cacciatore d’Lumaca (I am the Slug Hunter)!

The not so glamourous part of food production starts with slugs. I spent my first hour each day at Chalet Ghiazza hunting for slugs (lumaca). Yes, hunting. Every morning I would walk the beautiful yard, between the fruit trees, in the garden and along the flower beds searching for these orangish-brown balls of slime. At first I was not so excited but the more I did it, the more rewarding I found it when I discovered these slimy suckers hiding under wood pieces, leaves or in tall grass.

The Slug Hunter... on the hunt!

I began with only one plastic tub but soon realized that I needed to double up so the babies wouldn't fall through the holes in the bottom.

They are faster than you'd think! You can't leave them for more than a minute without them attempting to escape!

Sometimes they were "kinda" cute.

You may be wondering what the big deal is with slugs? Why would someone care if they were in their garden? Well let me tell you! The problem with lumaca (lumace plural) is that they love to eat green leaves. Which means in a garden full of lettuce and other leafy greens, this is a problem because they eat your nutrient-rich food! And this of course is absolutely unacceptable behavior! 

I once found a slug with his head burrowed in the most beautiful wild strawberry. The audiacity of that sucker! We only had maybe 6 strawberries and we were monitoring their color every day. As soon as they turned red, we were picking them but one day a slug beat us to the prize! 

Once caught, I would fling the slugs across the creek, hoping the water would keep them away from our beautiful garden. Although they were probably in shock for the wild ride, it was at least more humane than feeding them to the chickens. This was only because the chickens refused to eat the bigger ones. They preferred the smaller, more tender baby slugs. 

So yes, I now know way too much information about slugs. I know more than I ever wanted to about slug eating habits, maturation cycles, hiding areas, times for movement and slug mating behavior. But hey, if you ever need someone to do some slug removal in your garden, you know who to call!