Because we don't to alarm the public, we should like to point out that attacks from giant slugs are a comparatively rare occurrence.

Eckholt Cunningly's tragic demise is in no way typical, and he is in fact only the third fatality from a rogue slug, this week. Things are improving.

These are enlightened times and the days of the great slug uprisings are well behind us. Bad things were done in those days to slugs.

Also the days of smokescreens around what goes on in the ring in slug wrestling contests are long gone. Nowadays slug wrestling is a well regulated sport, and a fully qualified medical expert with experience of attending gasteropods is always at hand at the ringside in the unlikely case of a slug burst.