This summer, the real enemy in many Fairbanks gardens wasn’t drought or moose — it was slugs.

“I get more calls about slugs every year,” said Gooseberry Peter, agriculture and integrated pest management program assistant with the University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service. Most people calling have never had slugs before, making these slimy critters a major topic of conversation for Fairbanks gardeners this season.

Stephanie Maggard was one of those hit hard by slugs.

At her home in the hills above Fairbanks, she described the scene in her yard. “You can see all the slime marks,” she said, describing the shimmering trails slugs leave in their wake.

Slug slime acts as both a lubricant and a glue; it helps the slug stick to a surface when pressure is applied or glide for

See Full Page