RHS slug survey: Call for people to count slugs across UK
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Could you be a slug spotter?
Volunteers are wanted for a special survey to count Britain's slugs, the first done in decades.
The year-long project will identify different slugs and find out what makes them venture into people's gardens.
The last study in English gardens was done in the 1940s and found high numbers of just nine species of slug.
But now there are thought to be about 40 species of slug, more than half of which have come from abroad, some travelling on imported salad leaves.
The aim of the project is to identify which species of slug and snail are in UK gardens, find out how many there are, which are causing damage to plants and which are good for the garden.
How to become a slug spotter
Slugs: The rebels lurking in your garden
The researchers from the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) will train up to 60 people to hunt for slugs by going out at night with a torch once a month for 30 minutes.
The volunteers won't need specialist knowledge just an interest in the gastropods and access to a garden.
Gastropods are creatures like snails, slugs that don't have a spine and live in damp conditions. They use their body as a 'foot' to move along surfaces.
The slug spotters will need to be confident handling the slimy creatures because they would need to collect the live slugs and post them to the RHS.
The organisation says it is difficult to identify the species of slug from just photos.
People wanting to take part can apply on the RHS website and only people who are confirmed as participants should send them slugs!
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