Stevie Slug is great friends with the Grub Twins and Sally Snail, because they can crawl around together at the same speed. Stevie Slug loves nibbling plants and leaves big holes in their leaves, much to the annoyance of Mister Peter Potts, the gardener. Stevie’s body is usually short and dumpy, but he can make it very long if he wants to, so that he can get through really tiny holes.

The Slug

A slug is like a snail without a shell. It has two sets of tentacles on its head. The long tentacles are its eyes and the short ones are used for tasting and smelling.

It lives mostly underground, feeding on roots, but it also comes up to nibble on plants, leaving holes in the leaves. As it slithers along, it leaves a trail of slime which helps it to glide easily and to climb. It sometimes climbs up drainpipes and into houses. It always leaves its own scent trail, so that it can find its way home.

Slugs don’t hibernate (sleep) in winter, so they are always around somewhere. A slug can stretch out to twenty times its normal length, enabling it to squeeze through tiny openings.

Slugs appear after it’s been raining because they like moist ground. When it’s dry, they hide in damp places, under logs, stones and pots. As their body is made mostly of water, they need to keep moist.

A slug is not really an insect. It is a gastropod, which is like a lump of muscle, that moves slowly, with stalked eyes on its head.

Slugs are useful because they like to eat dead leaves, fungus and decaying plant material. This helps to recycle nutrients, which keeps the garden healthy.

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