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.

"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.

Their prominence is probably due to the favourable weather conditions
which they are experiencing. This site http://tinyurl.com/2mxdt8
explains this theory more fully.

Regards,
Emrys Davies.

"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.


To start with Richard don't be a mug and get sucked in on this 'Global
warming' thing. Like other crazes such as the Whip and Top, Hoola Hoop and
Rubicks Cube and buzz words of the day, it will pass and it will be another
fad, again the Government will find a way of making money out of it. This
Summer is very much like 1951. Weather comes. Weather goes. We cannot change
it we get what we get and anybody who thinks man can change this earth is
off his rocker. Have you seen the speeded up animated picture of a Motorway
which has been closed and left to nature for about 250 years I think it is?

That has dealt with the weather and global warming, as far as Snails are
concerned, lack of Thrushes, the wet weather we have had presented to us
this year, (wasn't into snail counting in 1951) and yes we have thousands on
the Isle of Wight.

Mike


--
The Royal Naval Electrical Branch Association.
'THE' Association if you served in the Electrical Branch of the Royal Navy
Reunion Bournemouth August/September 2007
www.rneba.org.uk

"Anne Jackson" wrote in message
...
The message from "Dick Chambers"
contains these words:

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.

I have the same problem here, in Perth. I put it down to the much milder
winters and the lack of thrushes in my garden. We used to have lots of
thrushes, now we have none.

--
AnneJ

It can be something as simple as your local authority being better at rat
control, rats in country/garden situations spend the winter hunting down
hibernating snails and eating them, they consume very large numbers and so
in spring you start from a low level, these days song thrushes appear much
in decline a local vet pathologist tells me a combination of slug pellets
and cats are responsible, we have both occasional slug pellets and cats but
still have thrushes so I don't know!

--
Charlie, gardening in Cornwall.
http://www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of National Plant Collections of Clematis viticella (cvs) and
Lapageria rosea

In reply to Dick Chambers ) who wrote this
in , I, Marvo, say :

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.
Snails and slugs love this weather.

See "too many seedlings" thread for some options on how to "deal" with them.

Pro-snail rights campaigners please go elsewhere.

"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

"Mary Fisher" wrote in message
. net...

What do you call a snail selling "The Big Issue"?

:-)

"Uncle Marvo" wrote in message
...



What do you call a snail selling "The Big Issue"?

:-)





Causing trouble round here as well - I see !

I dunno :-(
What do you call it ?
Pete
www.thecanalshop.com

In reply to Pete Stockdale ) who wrote this in
, I, Marvo, say :

"Uncle Marvo" wrote in message
...



What do you call a snail selling "The Big Issue"?

:-)





Causing trouble round here as well - I see !

Moi? A chap can have more than one interest, no?

I dunno :-(
What do you call it ?

A slug.

"Uncle Marvo" wrote in message
...
In reply to Pete Stockdale ) who wrote this
in , I, Marvo, say :

"Uncle Marvo" wrote in message
...



What do you call a snail selling "The Big Issue"?

:-)





Causing trouble round here as well - I see !

Moi? A chap can have more than one interest, no?

I dunno :-(
What do you call it ?

A slug.

Not a very LOLy one that !

Are you a keen gardner then ?
Pete

On 5/7/07 02:01, in article , "Anne
Jackson" wrote:

The message from "Dick Chambers"
contains these words:

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.
snip

I have the same problem here, in Perth. I put it down to the much milder
winters and the lack of thrushes in my garden. We used to have lots of
thrushes, now we have none.

We've noticed more thrushes around in the last few days and we think this
may be because we're finding snail shells empty on several paths.
And as a by the way, we think we've got cuckoos around, too. We haven't
heard any here but one of the staff saw a robin feeding a much larger bird
in one of the greenhouses the other day. I asked about this on the
birdwatching group and apparently, cuckoos do favour robins' nests. Ray says
he can't remember when he last heard a cuckoo round here and I never have so
I don't know what's happened or changed to make them come in here, if that's
what's really happening.

--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
(remove weeds from address)

In reply to Pete Stockdale ) who wrote this in
, I, Marvo, say :

"Uncle Marvo" wrote in message
...
In reply to Pete Stockdale ) who wrote
this in , I, Marvo, say :

"Uncle Marvo" wrote in
message ...



What do you call a snail selling "The Big Issue"?

:-)





Causing trouble round here as well - I see !

Moi? A chap can have more than one interest, no?

I dunno :-(
What do you call it ?

A slug.

Not a very LOLy one that !

Are you a keen gardner then ?

It's all I do when I'm not boating or drinking.

My garden is unusual though, to say the least. It's only just become above
the water level again, a bit of a shame.

"Mary Fisher" wrote in message
. net...

"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.

Thank you, Mary, for your interesting reply.

Here in Leeds 17 (a couple of hundred metres to the West of the A61
Harrogate Road, and the same distance North of the A6210 Ring Road), the
problem is not necessarily directly related to the recent prolonged wet
weather. Of course, I take it for granted that we will always see more
snails on a wet night. For the last six years, I have seen large numbers of
snails on any wet night that God has sent. Summer 2006 was much drier than
average, yet we still saw enormous numbers of snails that would appear on
the few wet evenings that we did have. As I said in my original posting, I
hardly ever saw a snail in the first 27 years I lived here, even on a wet
summer evening. Now, and for the past few years, their numbers have become
spectacular.

I am fascinated by your low-key reaction : -- "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.". Quite different from my own experience, which is spectacular,
yet we live at most only a few miles apart.

Richard Chambers Leeds UK.

The message from "'Mike'" contains these words:

Have you seen the speeded up animated picture of a Motorway
which has been closed and left to nature for about 250 years I think it
is?

Link ??
Jenny

"Dick Chambers" wrote in message
...


Here in Leeds 17 (a couple of hundred metres to the West of the A61
Harrogate Road, and the same distance North of the A6210 Ring Road), the
problem is not necessarily directly related to the recent prolonged wet
weather. Of course, I take it for granted that we will always see more
snails on a wet night. For the last six years, I have seen large numbers
of snails on any wet night that God has sent. Summer 2006 was much drier
than average, yet we still saw enormous numbers of snails that would
appear on the few wet evenings that we did have. As I said in my original
posting, I hardly ever saw a snail in the first 27 years I lived here,
even on a wet summer evening. Now, and for the past few years, their
numbers have become spectacular.

There's another consideration of course, you - and I - might not have been
as observant during other times. /unless you have been doing a long research
of course - I haven't.

I am fascinated by your low-key reaction : -- "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.". Quite different from my own experience, which is
spectacular, yet we live at most only a few miles apart.

There are local differences in everything. My neighbours curse daisies in
their lawns and strive permantly to rid themselves of coltsfoot. I can grow
neither despite many attempts.

Mary