Stephen Wolstenholme writes
On Thu, 17 Jul 2008 15:21:30 +0100, Gordon H
wrote:

During the 47 years I have lived in this property I have noticed that
over the years the pest population has changed from being almost
entirely slugs, to become almost entirely snails!

There are only a few slugs appear in my garden after a humid night, but
snails are everywhere.

Is it just that there is less homelessness today? ;-)

The same has happened here (North Cheshire) and further North where my
mothers in Lancashire. The snail population has reached a very high
level over the last 10 years while slugs are getting quite rare.

No snails when I moved to Leeds about 20 years ago. Now have a lot, but
still have a lot of slugs too.

Weather seems to have got wetter over the period - I'm deducing this
from local streams being more full during the summer, a new pond
developing in the parkland nearby, big increase in damper-loving species
such as lesser celandine. I wondered whether snails were less tolerant
of dry weather than slugs.
--
Kay