SPINELESS COWARD

Serial Doorbell Prankster Turns Out to Be Mischievous Slug

Police caught the culprit red-handed and taught it a lesson about respecting boundaries.

Residents of a building in Germany tormented by relentless late-night doorbell rings were stunned to discover the culprit was not a cruel prankster, but a slug. The incident in Schwaback, southern Germany, saw enraged residents call the police after someone—or something—repeatedly rang their doorbells after midnight, only to vanish when they answered the call. Initially suspecting a classic “klingelstreich,” the German term for a doorbell-ditch prank, residents grew increasingly uneasy as the ringing continued unabated. Two responding police officers were also baffled when the ringing continued even after they arrived at the scene, and the building’s motion sensor failed to activate. But upon closer inspection of the metal bell plate, officers discovered a slime trail left by a humble garden slug, who had been setting off the sensitive doorbell sensors by repeatedly sliding over the panel. Local police confirmed the unusual culprit had been “brought down to size, taught about its territory boundaries and placed on a nearby stretch of grass,” resolving the mollusc-made havoc.