Failure to take quick action before the slugs or snails become established at the facility can be costly. For example, in a greenhouse complex in Maryland where the brown garden snail was detected as plant material was being unloaded, the grower took no action. One year later the snail was found in a routine inspection by the Department of Agriculture. The grower was then required to have all outgoing shipments inspected for the snail and to begin eradication treatments. It took over three years for the snail to be eradicated from the premises.
Older slugs are females.
Slugs are apparently not repelled by light, but are repelled by rising temperatures. As temperatures rise, slugs crawl down to their hiding places on the soil surface to rest and absorb water through their skin. As temperatures start to fall, slugs actively begin foraging. Thus slugs may be active during the day after a cooling shower as long as the temperatures decline or remain steady. Development ceases below 5 C. Slugs can withstand slight freezing temperatures although their tendency to take shelter in cold weather protects them from freezing.