Plenty o slugs here, Addy. Not sure what could have happened with yours, though I'm reasonably certain they did not turn into deer!

+oM

ps....If your winter featured some very cold phases, and if there was scant snowcover at those same times, it seems reasonable to at least wonder if some ground-layer critters might not have succumbed to the cold. Just a thought. Here in Wisconsin, we, of course, had some of the coldest air to hit anywhere in the lower 48, but we also had deep snow consistently from Dec. onward.

Wisconsitom,

We did have very cold temps ...abnormally cold! I noticed a lot of plants (esp. seedlings)seem to have been pushed out of the soil by ice. Though I'm thankful for the absence of slugs I am somewhat alarmed as I know other critters depend on them and I find it a little bizarre not to see any...esp. since this has been such a nice wet spring so far and seemingly perfect slug weather! I know I'm going to regret this but I hope the population rebounds by next yr!

Every piece of litter I pick up on the ground has a couple slugs attached to the underside. They definitely overwintered here!

+oM