104 Insect Life : Its Why and Wherefore 
under side where they may be easily 
caught. A leaf of a plant plucked off and 
laid alongside a living leaf will often save 
the latter, dead or withered food being 
always preferred. 
Although the slug is by nature a vegeta - 
rian, he may, if deprived of his natural diet, 
become a cannibal. If a number of slugs 
are placed in capitvity, and there is a 
shortage of food, the strongest only will 
survive, till probably only one will be seen, 
the others in turn having all been gradually 
eaten up. If a few ducks are turned into 
the garden after rain, they will be found 
excellent slug exterminators and will do 
but little harm to the plants, if any at all. 
When catching slugs the easiest and most 
humane way of dispatching them is by 
dropping them into a vessel containing 
a strong solution of salt. 
The eggs of the slug are very plentiful 
and are soft and semi-transparent, smaller 
and more oval than those of the snail. 
They are deposited in clusters at the roots 
of grasses and shrubs. 
