Looks like something has been cleaning my garden table :)
Any idea what did this? I live in western/central-ish europe.
Slugs or snails! It looks like the trail left after they munch on whatever was growing there with their little radulas. 🤭
So what we’re seeing is their munch marks, not their trail?
That’s what I think, yeah. They move a little bit, then munch the ground sweeping left and right, then move a bit more. Their little mouths are like sandpaper, so they just rub away the green growth (I think, I’m not a snailologist, I just like snails and have been bit by them).
Edit: https://themarinedetective.com/2020/10/26/who-goes-there-scraping-marks-on-the-rocks/
This link isn’t gonna be suuuuper accurate because it’s marine mollusks that they’re looking at, but you can see the similarity in the marks. The radula would be the commonality between them, which is why I think snail/slug.
“I’m not a snailologist”
I recently learned they are called malacologists.
I’m not one of those either! (But thank you for the fun, new info!)
Neat!
Wait. You have been “bit” by them? Can you describe the feeling/sensation?
Yes! I loved snails so much as a kid, so I would collect them from the road when I walked to school and put them in the bushes outside of school grounds before the bell (I didn’t like the idea of them getting squished by traffic). I never really had a way to carry them so I’d just stick them on my arms or really wherever. Sometimes when I was putting them in the bushes, I’d notice just a teensy bit of blood on my arms where they were crawling around. I thought it was from the snails at first, but one time I kept a particularly fat snail on my hand and kinda watched him while I walked. He did the little chewing thing on the back of my hand for a bit and afterward, there was just a teensy bit of blood where he bit. The sensation was barely even noticeable, to be honest. A bit like a very tiny cat tongue—not really painful, just a bit scratchy.
Thank you for describing it so accurately. I am honestly surprised and didn’t know!
this is one of the best comments I’ve ever read on fediverse
thank you
Yes, IF that’s the right creature. (I said these look similar to the trails of slugs, and yes I meant the munched off trails and not the slime trails, which they can also leave)
Yea, I couldn’t make out a trail, so figured it must be munch marks.
Well we do have a lot of those, I had no idea they did that! Thanks for the info :)
I would be posting this in a nature related community if you don’t get any precise answers. Personally, I don’t know, but it reminds me of the trail left behind by some slugs when eating mold (Australian slugs, where I am). It’s clearly different, but the movement looks similar. I’m intrigued as to what left these ones though
We do have a lot of slugs and snails so you and the other comments must be right.
I might try to post in another community to narrow it down, thanks!
Its an arrow pointing you towards treasure.
So many treasures 🤩
