Spanish slugs turn up months early in Estonia this year
Invasive slugs spreading across Estonia have been spotted in the wild several months earlier than usual this year. The Spanish slug (Arion vulgaris) is now firmly established locally, and the only effective way to control them is through consistent collection and destruction.
A mild winter and wet spring brought increasingly active Spanish slugs out early this gardening season, with the first spotted as early as April. These slugs, which arrived in Estonia as an invasive species, are gardeners' number one nuisance, as they have virtually no natural predators.
Toomas, a resident of the Merivälja neighborhood in Tallinn's Pirita District, said his wife collects dozens — sometimes even hundreds — of slugs a day from around their home.
"They eat leaves, and last year they ate our cucumbers," Toomas recalled. "There was a slug inside a cucumber, peeking out proudly. You can't get rid of them — only collect them."
Spanish slugs can be identified by their ridged backs and clearly visible breathing holes. Along with another invasive species, the black-headed slug (Krynickillus melanocephalus), they have been found across nearly the entire country.
"The biggest nightmare scenario is perhaps putting your pumpkins outside in the evening, ones you've been carefully growing and tending to, and when you check on them in the morning, the slugs have eaten everything," described Pille Hermann, a plant protection specialist at the Tallinn Botanical Gardens.
"They eat completely indiscriminately — and if they really have nothing else to eat, even one of their own kind will do, and they'll devour that too," she continued.
To combat the pests, several districts in the Estonian capital where slugs are a problem have installed special collection containers. Pirita, for example, has five.
"[Containers] have been set up in previous years too, so that people who collect them from their gardens can bring them here," said Triin Toom, a specialist with the Pirita district administration. "Then the district empties them and takes [the slugs] for destruction.
It's unlikely that the Spanish slug can be completely eradicated from Estonia, but measures like keeping your garden in order and occasionally digging through your compost pile can help.
--
Follow ERR News on Facebook, Bluesky and X and never miss an update!
Editor: Johanna Alvin, Aili Vahtla
