Pam Peirce posted some thoughts on snails this morning.

I must be lucky, because I don't have snails. I've never seen a single one in my garden. What I do have are these little slugs. Not the kind of slug I typically envision when I think of slugs, but these little two centimeter jobs with a rather square-shaped aspect. They almost look like giant flukes. And I usually don't see them on the plants, just the soil. Which is actually kind of disturbing. I'm satisfied enough with the beer traps not to go looking for them. Pabst Blue Ribbon, baby!

I am however cursed with the inch-long inchworm-type larvae of some butterfly or moth that eats the leaves of Sambucus mexicana, Gaultheria shallon, Ribes sanguineum (the old leaves, never the young leaves), Carpinteria, Ceanothus, broccoli and lettuce, and, his most favorite, Illicium mexicanum--an absurdly delicate shade ornamental I bought from an absurd catalog for an absurd amount of money. I assume its the same critter eating all those plants, because I find him and nothing else.

Plants that go untouched include Passiflora, Abuliton, Echium, drought tolerant CA natives or plants with pubescent foliage like Bartlettina and Tibouchina.

I'm at my wit's end with this guy. It (apparently) takes more than just a few hunting expiditions to do the job, and I can't live without any of those plants I have on its menu (except for the Illicium, which I'm eager to detach from emotionally). My solution has been limited to hunting (and squishing), but I wish I could attract a predator to my yard to do the hunting for me.