Mystery 'slime'on chopping boards

We get those on the carpet that leads to the yard - and indeed, if anyone goes to the kitchen for a drink of water during the night, we switch on the light (although we know where the glasses and the fridge are) because sometimes there are as many as five slugs moving about (and the net is in place, so I don't know how they manage to get in. When they see / feel the light, they begin moving toward under the cupboards. In used to pick them up with a small broom, put them on the dustpan, and throw them into the garden, but now I don't bother - I just sweep the rug and the trails go.

Slugs eat dog poo !

We kept getting slug trails but I couldn't work out how it was getting into the kitchen. I came down for a drink in the middle of the night just in time to see it squeezing itself out of a tiny gap under our back door. It was so small you wouldn't have known it was there and it was a huge slug! I blocked it up and no more slug.

me too Elaine

All this has made me scared to go to bed in fear of whats downstairs at night! ?

Just a wild shot - could slugs be coming up from via your sink? They love damp, dark places. Perhaps a pipe not quite sealed off from the outside. Salt on the surface where you see the trails could show you if something is crawling about. Could it be something natural in the wood of the chopping boards secreting when left to dry. Hope you find an answer soon.

Thanks for your thoughts so far everyone. I thought it was maybe to do with chopping boards, but last night I left my iPad propped up in its case on the worktop, and found trails on it this morning. Aaaargh! I shall clear the worktop tonight and maybe sprinkle some salt over it. We had a big fly in the room last night and despite using fly spray at the other end of the room it was still flying about. Could it be a fly leaving a deposit after crawling over things? No sign of trails on the worktop.

Some years ago I moved into a property that had recently had a new kitchen installed. I used to find slug trails all across the kitchen floor in the morning and yet there was no sign of the little blighters! This went on for days and I decided that, as the floor was tiled over concrete they had to be hiding behind the kitchen base units. I empty kilos of salt behind cupboards etc...........no more slug trails!

Maybe it (or they) don't need to secrete slime to travel over a smooth worktop. We had one in the extension, after the cat food. It came and went through a tiny gap between the floorboards!

Agree with bluebell.. they are part of the animal food chain.

We get overnight slugs too. Luckily not on worksurfaces - well at least I hope not, we just see trails on the floor. But following them to where a skug might be getting in is impossible.

Please don't use slug pellets, if a bird or hedgehog eats the poisoned slug it will die ????

Slightly off piste but we have some chopping boards which slot into a box for storage
(Joseph) they are not big ones but serve the purpose, go in the dishwasher and are safe from slugs in their box.

kircubbin2000

Why not tidy them away at night.

Best leave the chopping boards out to remind you to wipe down the worksurfaces every morning before putting anything on them...ugh
At least you're then given notice there has been a visitation.

If it's a slug it would have to climb up the side of the work counter, they don't jump. Kept finding trails in my mother' s kitchen once and eventually caught one sliding under the door from garden. Fitted a rigid draught excluder, problem solved!

Like others, this does sound like slugs. I have them occasionally in my hall having got in under the front door. How impossible to discover since the door fits well and no draught. They must be able to squeeze themselves very flat.

I find their presence late evening when going to bed. Strange thing is I never see any in my garden.

Be very careful where you put salt. I once spread it over my back door mat and under my door. After leaving it for a few days, I noticed that the screws in the upvc door frame had gone rusty and the skirting board paint was blistered! And I never saw evidence that a slug had been affected by the salt.

Last night I woke up at 2am and went to get a drink of water, there was a slug on the floor! I think reading this post before I went to sleep somehow conjured one up!

Phoenix, those stripey slugs may well be the leopard slugs ... (Limax maximus) (literally, "great slug"), also known as the great grey slug this is one of the largest kinds of keeled air-breathing land slug in the world. A beautiful slug that actually eats small slugs and their eggs. as this species is not regarded as a plant pest.
The preferred diet of the leopard slug is fungi, dead plant or animal matter making it a useful species to have around. Easily recognisable with its leopard-like spots, the species can grow up to 16cm and is commonly found in parkland, woodland and gardens.
Take a look at the pic below. They are my absolute favourite slugs in my garden.

They are totally repulsive Arum ?

I once lived in an old farmhouse which was full of slugs. If I found them I picked them up in toilet paper and flushed them down the loo. One night at bed time I went into the kitchen for a drink and by mistake stepped on one, making a horrible mess on the stone floor. As I was tired I decided to leave cleaning it up until the morning. Next morning the mess was gone, with only some slug trails leading to where it had been. Evidently other slugs had eaten it in the night.

Once went into the kitchen in our old house ,put the light on and saw two big slugs ( obviously mates) sucking on cat biscuits.They actually looked up at me! Arrrrrrgggggh.

you could at least have topped the bowl up for them lemon!

Our cat has a very fluffy tail and sometimes slugs will ‘hitch a ride’ and they end up every where!

Put a container of beer down near your chopping boards, the slugs can’t resist it, crawl in for a drink and then drown as they are sozzled !!

I once watched a slug ‘escape’ through the door jamb as I tried to dispose of it. There wasn’t a space that I could see but it managed it quickly and easily. Can anyone else smell them? I’m sure they have a sickly sweet smell. Ugh!