[oldcow]

I have a few large aubergine plants, sitting on the patio and waiting to be put in the ground. In the last two days, they have been seriously damaged: whole leaves have been snapped off, several almost completely eaten, and in one case the stem's outer layer has been eaten I looked carefully, and I can't find the culprit. Can slugs really inflict this type of damage? The leaves cut off and the stem stripped leave me perplexed.

[mumofstig]

maybe pigeons?

[oldcow]

I don't think so, the marks on the leaves that have been partially eaten look like slug or caterpillar damage. I must have some 2 pounds slugs out there...

[oldcow]

Found another aubergine plant with the bark stripped off and leaves eaten... This time I could see some slime on the plant.  I rummaged around and I found a couple of massive snails, hopefully those were the culprits.
I'm amazed, I had some huge slugs having fun with lettuce and bok choy, but the damage on these plants was something on a different scale...