Slugathon

[primsong]

I get to go out and be the Slug-Bait Fairy again today, tossing it about like sparkle-dust that magically eliminates slimy little daffodil-and-tulip-leaf-eaters.

How do you deal with slugs and snails where you are?

I used to try the 'toss them in the street to be run over' version when I was in CA, but I had a *lot* smaller yard and a main road nearby to crunch them before they could make it back to the sidewalk. I've considered those little slug-barns you fill with beer to drown them in, but the idea of having to dispose of little gloopy containers of beer-marinated dead slugs is enough to put me off my feed for quite a while. Bait makes me feel like an industrial criminal, waving chemicals over the earth, but hey...it works....

Back to slug-bait dust... *toss toss toss*

Comments

[lin4gondor.livejournal.com]

My gardening problem is a squirrel eating my bulbs before they get a chance to come up. The resident squirrel is so brazen about it that he digs up the bulb, then eats it on our back deck, leaving chewed little sprigs of green and barely-opened flower petals to taunt me.

I have tried sprinkling cayenne pepper about, we will see if that helps. Fortunately, I have a large supply at the moment, because it's an important ingredient in Pakistani cooking.

I just had a mental picture of slug barns filled with the huge slugs we used to have up in the mountains in Pakistan. NOT a pretty picture. I am now off my feed.

Your posts always make me think of something memorable from the "old days"! :-D

[primsong.livejournal.com]

I avoid cayenne ever since I heard of animals getting it in their eyes and blinding themselves from the pain of it. :-( However, red pepper flakes are not quite so violent, and I've also heard of wrapping the bulbs in a bit of steel wool when you plant them so only the tip sticks out. I haven't run into this, strangely enough - even though I have plenty of squirrels. Could be the neighbor who feeds them corn-on-the-cob and peanuts keeps them from bothering with such menial work as digging up my flowers.

We have banana slugs up here sometimes, I used to find them in the woodpile when we lived in the country - huge and amazing, aren't they?