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

[iorhael94.livejournal.com]

I'll ask Bob what he does and get back to you...

[iorhael94.livejournal.com]

Here is what Bob emailed me on your slug problem...

"I never really had slugs, just snails - and still have them (though haven't seen any yet this year :)
I tried the crushed eggshell routine, but you have to make sure it goes all around the plant you are protecting, otherwise they find a way to get through. I usually just pick them off as I see them (early morning). She might want to try a good barrier of bark around the plants to make it harder for them to get to the plants. And there are some enviromentally-friendly slug baits."

He suggests checking out Ciscoe's site for some environmentally friendly slug baits:

http://www.ciscoe.com/

Hope this helps.

[siradaono.livejournal.com]

We do the beer trap thang, it is all that BUD is good for anyway.
I never have to clean them out though because the local Racoons come by and open the traps and DINE......lol....Drunken Racoons...lol...theres a picture for ya.

[primsong.livejournal.com]

It never occurred to me that they might then become a 'coon gourmet treat - of course, our coons are so fat and sleek and pampered with all the suburban cat-food and such that they get I don't know if they could be bothered to waddle over and empty them for me. :-D

[siradaono.livejournal.com]

the FRENCH do the same, at a high price too.

[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?

[primsong.livejournal.com]

*snirt snirt*

[maidoforange.livejournal.com]

Ah, those garden pests. No slugs, here, but plenty of bugs and blackspot is already starting to rear its head.

[tuilelindowen.livejournal.com]

The first time I used snail bait (after trying everything else and still losing everything I planted within 24 hrs.) I was shoveling snails for a week. Piles of them. I never knew we had so many. After that snails and slugs really creep me out. Do banana slugs hang around banana trees or are they called that only because of what they look like? Where we moved we have a couple banana trees in our front yard.

My primroses just got eaten by something. I don't think its snails. Something else.

[primsong.livejournal.com]

Hi Tuile!

Banana slugs just *look* like bananas, their coloring is often like a bruised banana, mottled yellow, brown and a touch of green, and they can be as big as bananas too. I kind of like them, maybe because they can be pretty funky looking and are rare to find. It's the common grey garden-slug that I abhor - unfortunately, you have to apply bait/slug-dust every 2-3 weeks at first if you want to break the cycle, otherwise the next lot of eggs will hatch and you'll be back where you started. I've made a good dent in my yard's population by keeping after it, so now I only have to do it when I begin noticing damage to the leaves of my irises, etc.

When we were down in CA I never had a slug, but my yard was rife with snails. :-P Now I don't have snails, but I have slugs! Oh well...

[cads.livejournal.com]

Is slug bait different to slug pellets? I don't like the latter because cats can get them on their paws when they come to 'decorate' your garden, they lick them off and then get poisoned.

Beer is best I believe. Or get a toad or two, or a hedgehog. Even a fox will eat slugs.

Sorry to hear about all your trials and tribulations. Hope things start looking brighter afer the court case.