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21-10-2005, 03:18 PM

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On Wed, 19 Oct 2005 01:27:33 +0100, Jaques d'Alltrades
wrote:

On a big-game (snail) hunt a couple of weeks ago I was shiing my torch
on some perpetual sweet peas and was surprised to see a very alert toad
sitting on the front room windowsill (outside!).

How do they eat slugs and how do they manage the shells on snails? I
thought frogs were supposed to have long tongues to grab flies from
out of the air? Wouldn't you need some force to put against the slug
"glue" that holds them tightly to the leaf?

? Slugs don't attach tightly. Snails attach rather tighter, because
their slime dries out and I suppose that creates a slight vacuum inside
the shell.

Both frogs and toads can grasp hard with their arms and forefeet .
You'll see ponds full of male frogs riding active , swimming females
that way during the mating season. Toads are muscular enough to dig
holes for themselves. So both would be quite strong-armed enough to
wrestle a slug into submission.

Janet