Slugs eating rhubarb - a new thing?

This year I've had a lot of slugs eating the rhubarb.

I would have said before this that slugs don't eat rhubarb, and never have, because they don't like the oxalic acid.

So have slugs changed, is it something about this particular rhubarb, or have I just been misremembering the good old days through rhubarb tinted glasses?

 

I think slugs have always had a chew on rhubarb sticks and leaves.

 

The early growth on ours are often munched but this year it is worse. I'm trying to establish some new small crowns and they are suffering far more than the established ones, so I think small new growth is more on the menu.

 

I think it can depend on variety. I had ‘Glaskin’s Perpetual' (low oxalic acid) completely eaten away by slugs, and replaced it with 'Stockbridge Arrow' (normal levels of OA), which was left alone.

 

When my rhubarb (Fulton's Strawberry Surprise) has the first few stems ready to pull I find little blobs of hard 'sap' on the stems caused by slugs/snails having a nibble.
After a few weeks that stops.
I'm guessing that by then, there are more tasty plants in my garden to demolish.

 

This year slugs are eating a lot of plants that they don't usually eat and there's a lot of them because of the mild winter.