Slimy Slugs!

Every living thing produces waste. All these various forms of waste require something to break it down so the nutrients can return to the soil. Slugs are one of the helpers in this regard. They eat dead plant matter, animal feces, and even dead animals. Some slugs hunt snails, which can actually be more damaging to a garden than slugs are!

Most slugs are brown or black, but banana slugs are bright yellow.
Photo by Murray Foubister, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Slugs are basically snails without shells. This helps them survive in environments that aren’t as rich in calcium (one of the nutrients that shells are made out of). They have both seeing and smelling organs on their eyestalks which protrude from the front of their heads. They are covered in mucus, which helps them move around and trap moisture. Slug blood is called hemocyanin. Instead of iron like in human blood, slugs have copper in their blood which makes it look blue/green.

Lehmannia capticae has a distinctive spotted pattern.
Photo by Michal Horsák, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

It is possible that some types of slugs became pests as a result of the fall. It is also possible that we just view them as pests when they get in the wrong environment—like our homes and gardens. Like lots of other invertebrates, it’s likely that God created them primarily to help break down waste and plant matter to help ecosystems function.

After the fall, some components of slugs have medicinal use. Slug mucus has been used as a skin treatment since ancient medicine—it can treat inflammations and various types of skin breakouts and promote wound healing. The slime even kills bacteria and parasites that might want to live on the slug!1

This shows us that even gross-looking creatures can have good characteristics and functions in nature. It also shows that our Creator designed each animal with a valuable purpose in keeping each ecosystem running efficiently.