Slugs

Because the weather in the UK  is cool and damp, it encourages animals that like coll and damp to thrive.   And nowhere is cooler and damper than the grass around a hiker’s tent.  So I discovered that lurking in the undergrowth is a ubiquitous army of slugs, ready to pounce (well it’s a figure of speech) as soon as you pitch camp.

They were absolutely everywhere.   I don’t think I ever camped anywhere and didn’t find at least one of these ghastly gastropods in or around my tent in the morning.   they got inside my rucksack, and crawled between the inner and outer tents, where they were difficult to remove (but they did have to be removed because the consequences of tightly rolling up a tent with a slug squashed inside it are too awful to contemplate).

So I just had to put up with them and remind myself that, repulsive as they were, at least they didn’t carry any diseases.   And I did sort of find their variety of size, colour and shape quite fascinating – from almost microscopic white specks, to gigantic orange and brown blobs.   Worms (of which there were fewer) were altogether much duller are less varied, by comparison.   But I don’t think I’ll ever be a fan of these malicious molluscs.

Read other notes by clicking the link below the line

<- Forward to next section

<- Return to overview page ->

Back to previous section ->