"Dick Chambers" wrote in message
...
I have lived in the same house in Leeds for the last 33 years. During the
first 27 (approximately) of these years, I hardly ever saw a snail,
although
I did have a large number of slugs. During the last 6 (approx) years,
there
has been a dramatic increase in the number of snails. On a wet evening
after
dark, if I go to post a letter in the local mail box, my feet
inadvertently
crunch a snail every tenth step, on average. I have just removed and
killed
about 50 of them from my bed of petunias, the bed being a mere 5 square
metres in area. The snails are thick on the ground. It ihas reached the
point where I would describe it as a plague.

Is this problem local to Leeds, or has there been the same problem
throughout the UK? What has caused the sudden increase in their
population?

I do not accept "global warming" as an answer -- far too easy, facile, and
probably wrong. With global warming, Leeds nowadays has the same climate
as
Berkshire did 35 years ago when I lived there. Berkshire in 1972 did not
have the plague of snails I am experiencing here in Leeds in 2007.

Richard Chambers Leeds UK.

I've lived in the same house in Leeds for the last 43 years. In the first
few years I saw a lot of snails but few slugs. I haven't noticed any
difference in the small variations since then.

A few weeks ago I went to post a letter (honestly!) on a wet night. We've
had a lot of those recently. I noticed a huge number of snails on the
footpath so on my way back I collected them and saved them until morning to
give to my hens.

I haven't seen this phenomenon at any other time - but all that means is
that I haven't seen it, not that it hasn't occurred.

I certainly wouldn't describe the number as a plague, that's far too easy,
facile and probably wrong. Nor is it a phenomenon (I don't see it as a
problem) peculiar to Leeds, a son in Chippenham (Wiltshire) has similar
variations in numbers of snails, a daughter has very many of both slugs and
snails despite having ducks and hens - but she lives in Wales where it's
always wet. A son in Leeds (Kirkstall) has only recently begun gardening and
he's very upset by the destruction slugs and snails have wrought, he says he
doesn't remember it being like this when he was at home - but it was never
as wet as it has been recently when he was at home. Another son in Leeds
(Chapel Allerton) has had an overgrown garden with a huge pond and a lot of
snails and slugs for years - but I suspect he wouldn't even notice if there
were differences in population. The daughter in France probably eats them if
she has them.

I saw absolutely no snails or slugs in April but we had no rain at all in
that month and I expect they stayed safely underground.

I doubt that you had as much rain in Berkshire in 1972 as we've had here in
the last few weeks, it's been unseasonal. Snails and slugs thrive under damp
conditions and become apparent, just because they're not seen doesn't mean
that they're not there.

Mary
Leeds UK