Having a slimy body enables slugs to slip easily into tiny crevices. Slugs are even known to eat their own slime, provided it is debris free. On the other hand, gardeners who have a fear of slime may suffer from blennophobia. Some slugs have the fascinating ability to produce a slime cord, which allows them to descend from high places much like a spider dangling from a web. Banana slugs like to use the slime cord trick when descending a redwood tree that took days to climb.
Some European slugs use their slime cords to mate in midair.
Imported European slugs and snails seem to run rampant in American gardens. The pudgy, ugly red slug that consumes everything in sight and ignores slug baits, is called Arion ater. It was first reported in Oregon in 1942. Since then it has become a serious garden pest throughout the Pacific Northwest. The brown garden snail, Helix aspersa, made its presence known throughout California in the 1850s.