Blackfoot news. (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1891-1902, 1892-12-31
THE GARDEN SLUG.
4 Iittle Pest That Is as Feroeious a.
wildcat

inc uses OF hlugs are various SAYS
The Washington Star. Some are taken
internally at intervals during the day
by parsons addicted to alcoholic slim
nlanis. They arc liquid. Other kinds
very solid. are applied externally by
gentlemen who follow the craft which
John l. Sullivan has done SO much TO
adorn. Both OF these species Of slugs
are apt to produce bad effect on the
nose.
Yet another sort Of slug. to the dis
cussion OF which this writing will DO
limited. embraces q family OF mol.
lusks without shells More accurately
speaking they possess shells. but
wear them inside and not outside OF
their bodies Like the marine skids
they have each single small bone.
which Is so far rudimentary that in
certain varieties II has all but disap.
peared. Roughly speaking. they may
DO clnssed in the animal kingdom as
shelless snalls
One species called the 'festacella. -
plentiful 10 Europe is one OF the
most ierocious OF living creatures IL
Is true predaceous mollusk. repre-
seating OF the land the cutie fish OF
the sea In cunning and tierceness Il
Is not inferior 10 the tiger or the
shark Its prey is chiefly earth
worms which IL hunts under the
ground. When the worm has the
start o. is pursuer the slug will often
Intercept It by tunneling across its
line OF retreat.
he testacella will devour a worm
much longer ihan itself selling Il by
the middle and holding 1t until the
quarry is exhausted by its efforts 10
escape Then the captor pulls OF
and swallows one. half OF the victim
and after that Is dgested 1t finishes
It's meal with the other portion. For
this purpose its mouth Is furnished
with strong aud sharp curved teeth.
which enable il 10 keep firm hold
and 10 tear the tesh Of the game IL
catches
When tho testaceila has scented
prey Il glides softly toward il so as
not 70 cause alarm. aud iasiens It's
!aws upon au unprotected part oi tho
worm. The latter has its body rings
furnished with still bristles 80 that
the slug tries 10 ret its bite In be-
tween the rings Then il simply
holds on until the captive succumhA
Other slugs and suails also ARE
attacked and gobbIed by this preda-
tory moilusk. which is nocturnal in
It's habits sallying forth In the night
on It's marauds
This curious animal freauenta
gardens where the rich earth con.
tains worms IN penty. alt lives 10 be
i've or sis ycars old. Ia winter il
burles iisel; deep in tho ground
whore Ii remains torpid. Its eggs
look like hons eggs on small scale
n they are taken out OF the earth.
where they are laid. and posed TO
the air they burst into pieces like
diminutiro bombshcllS the fray ments
dying for quite distance.
Most species Of slugs are vegetable
feeders In Europe they are very
numerous and do great damage TO
vegetation. especially in England.
The foreign varieties have all been
imported 10 this country. but they
seem 10 inIlict no injury here condi-
tons presumably being uniavorable
for their propagation. IL Is hardly
necessary to say that they were not
brought over by design. Ono kind.
which may have boon fetched on wine
barrels has become unpleasantly nu-
merous 10 damp cellars on this side OF
the water II aitains a length OF four
inches and Is called limax maxlmus
In Portugal Is found giant slug
six inches long. It's FIRST cousin. tho
.ario.limax is quite rs big and is
very plentiful on the Pacific coast and
especially In the state OF Washington.
whore Il has dlsagreeablo way OF
dropping from tho trees The 'li-
max compostris' Is n smaller variety.
found all over the interior OF this
country. In the woods beneath the
parks Of trees and wherever IL is
damp. An important kind that has
become fairly numerous here like
wiso OF moderate size is called the
.4imax agrestis" There are many
other species in ,nis part OF the
world. both native and eyotic Slugs
arc air breathing animals Their
eyes on stalks like n CRAPS have
sharp sight and their other senses
arc believed TO DO quite keen.