Meet my part time friend. It lives in the dark, damp cavities between the bricks in my raised bed. It is called the Leopard slug although names mean nothing to it. Is it a lady slub or a man slug – actually a bit of both, that is why I refer to it as it. It can be a mother or a father: the main thing is that the kids grow up with their many sisters/brothers, a few hundred. Mum/dad do it quite throoughly, it can take hours/days until the task is done, suspended by slug slime on a tree they hang and wait until the deed is done. They are the biggest slugs existing in nature and can reach a size of up to 20 cms.

As said this guy lives in my raised bed and always in the same crevice. They really like to settle in their home and always return to the same place.

So yesterday evening after I finished spraying the garden it suddenly appeared, same place same time. We have a steady appointment. I sprayed it a little with some water to make it feel more at home. It is a friendly slug, does not eat plants or even nibble at the leaves. It lives on garden waste and for its meat likes to feast on a tasty small slug. Unfortunately he is only a part time friend, as very rarely seen during the day, but is a night wanderer.

Here it is on its way home again.