BS: Slug Control?

Subject: BS: Slug Control?
From: Mr Happy
Date: 12 Jul 07 - 12:04 PM

We've a youngish cat: Sakura.

Also a 'lockable'? catdoor, yet still get 'cat'burglars.

So we leave some cat dryfood outside as a diversion + human food scraps for night visitors such as foxes, hedgehogs etc.

Of late, I've noticed slugs seem to enjoy catfood & depredation of me crops is minimal.

Guess feeding the buggers is better than toppin' 'em with slug pellets?

What think you?

Subject: RE: BS: Slug Control?
From: TheSnail
Date: 12 Jul 07 - 12:18 PM

I'm all for it.

Subject: RE: BS: Slug Control?
From: Ebbie
Date: 12 Jul 07 - 12:21 PM

In Juneau - where slugs are far sighted and vigorous and with the mental capacity of the cheetah (not?) - many people utilize hanging baskets. I've seen even lettuce overhead.

As agile as cats are - and certainly raccoons - why not try a version of that?

Subject: RE: BS: Slug Control?
From: artbrooks
Date: 12 Jul 07 - 12:50 PM

I'm not sure about cat food, but we have had good luck leaving a deep saucer full of CHEAP beer out in the garden...the slugs get drunk and drown.

Subject: RE: BS: Slug Control?
From: skipy
Date: 12 Jul 07 - 12:53 PM

Please give grid referance of where this bowl is! Please leave a large panful
Skipy

Subject: RE: BS: Slug Control?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Jul 07 - 12:59 PM

There seem to be overlapping issues in this request. Cats, foxes and hedgehogs, and slugs. Is the cat coming and going in the house as she is supposed to, or are other animals coming through the cat door? Were the other critters a problem in your garden, or just the slugs?

A caller to a local organic gardening program had a suggestion that I'm trying now that may help some aspect of this.

Take a two-liter bottle and at a line just below the "shoulder" of the bottle, make a neat straight cut through so that the top is a sort of funnel and can be turned over and pushed narrow end down into the base. You tape the raw edges where they meet and end up with a bottle that has a narrow opening to the inside that slugs or snails crawl through but can't get back out very easily. Push some pieces of bread and a little water in to make it moist to smell interesting and you'll lure garden pests in and can untape and toss bottle contents in the compost later. What I usually do for snails and slugs is to put out a shallow container (like a restaurant take-out 1/4 pound plastic container) of beer and they find their way in and drown in it.

If you feed the foxes and such they will keep coming back for more. They may bother or eat the cats.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Slug Control?
From: JennyO
Date: 12 Jul 07 - 01:06 PM

I haven't had a lot of success with beer to get rid of slugs and snails. Maybe they didn't like the VB (I can't blame them), but I'm damned if I'm gonna waste the good Coopers or Pure Blonde on them!

No cheap beer left now, so I'll have to think of something else. The snails have been particularly bad here lately - even climbing up and eating the leaves of the passionfruit vine. It's winter, and I would have thought it would be too cold for them. I don't remember them being a problem in winter before.

Subject: RE: BS: Slug Control?
From: Folkiedave
Date: 12 Jul 07 - 01:12 PM

The theory is that you use stale beer.

I never have any.

Years ago - in the classified part of a gardening magazine there was an advert which said - "Organic Slug Killer - £5.00"

Those who sent off for it received two blocks of wood and the instructions - "Place slug on first piece of wood, hit slug with second piece of wood".

Subject: RE: BS: Slug Control?
From: Bill D
Date: 12 Jul 07 - 01:15 PM

"Now slugs is bugs that nobody loves
But everybody understands
That they look disgusting, and they taste disgusting
And they feel disgusting in your hands.
But of all the little bugs that grow in the garden
Slugs have a special place in my heart
Because they like to drink beer, they'll drink any kind of beer
And they never quit drinking once they start.

So come on down, let's go out and have a slug-drowning party tonight
No, they can't tell if they're floating in Guinness
Or sinking in Miller Lite.
They ain't particular and they got no taste
And they'll drown in any beer in sight
So come on down, let's go out, and have a slug-drowning party tonight."

Subject: RE: BS: Slug Control?
From: JennyO
Date: 12 Jul 07 - 01:16 PM

That sounds a lot more successful than my beer was.

Subject: RE: BS: Slug Control?
From: JennyO
Date: 12 Jul 07 - 01:18 PM

The pieces of wood, that is.

Subject: RE: BS: Slug Control?
From: artbrooks
Date: 12 Jul 07 - 01:18 PM

If the beer costs more than $2.50 US (£1) per six-pack, you are over-indulging them. Stale is good...ask your local barkeeper to empty unfinished glasses into a jar for you.

Subject: RE: BS: Slug Control?
From: artbrooks
Date: 12 Jul 07 - 01:21 PM

Slug by slug, weed by weed,
    My garden's got me really teed
    All the insects love to feed upon my tomato plants
    Sunburned face, scratched-up knees
    My kitchen's choked with zucchinis
    I'm shopping at the A & P next time I get a chance.

Subject: RE: BS: Slug Control?
From: JennyO
Date: 12 Jul 07 - 01:21 PM

Hmm. I wonder if they would....?

Subject: RE: BS: Slug Control?
From: JennyO
Date: 12 Jul 07 - 01:23 PM

Beer is supposed to be good for rinsing your hair too. Nothing to lose then, even if my snails continue to ignore it.

Subject: RE: BS: Slug Control?
From: Bee
Date: 12 Jul 07 - 01:28 PM

Slugs and beer: I think it just attracts more of'em.
Hanging baskets: I've seen slugs crawling up the side of the house well up on the second story.
Eggshells, crushed: only the little slugs fear them.
Coffee grounds: works, but you have to drink a whack of coffee and renew constantly.
Copper barrier: works, but is expensive.

Lordy I hate slugs.

Subject: RE: BS: Slug Control?
From: Geoff the Duck
Date: 12 Jul 07 - 02:13 PM

Mr Happy - have you actually seen the slugs eating your cat food? If not, one possibility could be that you have enticed your hedgehogs for a main meal, and they are using the slugs as starters or pudding (especially if they are marinaded in Guinness) Have you thought about putting down garlic butter for the gourmet predators.
Actually one of the warnings given about slug pellets is that they can cause problms for hedgehogs who eat the treated slugs.
Geese or ducks also eat slugs, although for myself, I'd rather stick to the beer.
Quack!
Geoff.

Subject: RE: BS: Slug Control?
From: skipy
Date: 12 Jul 07 - 03:04 PM

"ask your local barkeeper to empty unfinished glasses into a jar for you."
Done it many times, it's called "minesweeping"!
Skipy

Subject: RE: BS: Slug Control?
From: Linda Goodman Zebooker
Date: 12 Jul 07 - 05:19 PM

When my son (now 20) was two years old we were renting an apartment in a house that had lots of plants and lots of slugs. When we went out for the day Benny would wave back and say "Goodbye slugs". We also had fun watching a couple of them slowly crawl from crack to crack in the sidewalk and would bet on which one would reach the new crack first. One time he said, "Hey, let's name 'em! --- We've got plenty of time!"

Subject: RE: BS: Slug Control?
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 12 Jul 07 - 06:24 PM

Slug pellets are supposed to be 'pet' friendly, and so the Pbi ones are... but only if they're ingested in their raw, natural state. If your cat eats slugs, don't put Pbi pellets down. If the cat eats the slugs that have eaten the slug pellets, the cat will be very ill. There is something about the chemical reaction that affects the kidneys. It makes the cat very poorly and the vet very rich. If you're really lucky, you'll have bright turquoise vomit to clear up from the house too.

Slugs aren't bugs, they're molluscs.

Cat pee gets rid of them. One of my flower pots was totally annihalated by the slugs. Shadow cat adopted it as a litter tray, not realising there were potatoes in there. No slugs and the potatoes are doing well... not sure I'm going to eat them though!

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Slug Control?
From: Rapparee
Date: 12 Jul 07 - 07:00 PM

Get yourself a bb gun and a flashlight....

Subject: RE: BS: Slug Control?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Jul 07 - 07:17 PM

I'd suggest a salt shaker and a flashlight is a less destructive combination. Unless you're hitting them with the flashlight.

Subject: RE: BS: Slug Control?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 12 Jul 07 - 07:36 PM

When it comes to that crisis you-or-them situation you just have to do something. Slug-pubs actually attract more slugs to your garden. A few years ago slug killers based on aluminium sulphate were approved by the organic fraternity but the approval has been withdrawn. The little pellets of aluminium sulphate are extremely effective, they don't harm any other wildlife and they dissolve away to nothing. You can even dissolve them and water them in (five dessertspoonfuls to a two-gallon watering can) if you have a severe infestation. There are also pellets based on ferric sulphate that are supposedly "organic," and they work very well and last longer, though thay have a tendency to go mouldy.   I really don't see too much wrong with just ordinary meta pellets, though they are severely disapproved of in organic circles.   By the way, the big ugly slugs do very little harm. It's the nasty little keeled slugs that often secrete themselves in the soil that are the real menace.

Subject: RE: BS: Slug Control?
From: artbrooks
Date: 12 Jul 07 - 07:43 PM

Of course, the other alternative is to live-harvest them, sell them to the French, and let them put them into used snail shells and resell them as escargot....

Subject: RE: BS: Slug Control?
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 12 Jul 07 - 08:09 PM

When we had a problem with slugs in her rosebushes in the Seattle area, the local horticulturist recommended a copper barrier fence. The barrier has to stick into the ground an inch or two, and be tall enough that the slug has to touch it (crawl over it) to get past.

The theory was that the copper breaks down the slug slime and the slugs scratch their bellies. They don't like that and won't try to get past.

At the time, one could get copper "flashing" as used in roofing fairly cheaply, but with the current salvage value of copper I'm not sure it's affordable now. Real copper woven screening might be usable. Much of what shows up in the hardware shops here is actually brass/bronze and I can't say whether that meets the spec for this use.

Galvanized steel was said to work, but somewhat less effectively; and either Cu or Zn will quit working if it gets covered with enough dirt and/or corrosion.

Note that I didn't try this except on one very small plot. It seemed to help, but I can't say that it's fully reliable.

John

Subject: RE: BS: Slug Control?
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 12 Jul 07 - 08:36 PM

we tried taking our slug to obedience classes, but they aren't quick learners - in fact, it's still rather sluggish.....

Subject: RE: BS: Slug Control?
From: bobad
Date: 12 Jul 07 - 08:41 PM

Copper blocker

Subject: RE: BS: Slug Control?
From: Rapparee
Date: 12 Jul 07 - 09:16 PM

Put the copper screen up, connect it to at 220 outlet...

Subject: RE: BS: Slug Control?
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 12 Jul 07 - 09:51 PM

Well Bobad, it's reassuring to know that I'm not the only one who's heard of the copper effect.

The other unproven (by me) method for slug control was "get a goose." I have seen several articles claiming that geese like slugs and will gobble them up. Unfortunately I've also seen a similar number of articles that say geese are good at keeping the weeds clipped (like rabbits, but it takes fewer of them); and I can't say that anything green would necessary be safe in the path of a herd of marauding goosees.

John

Subject: RE: BS: Slug Control?
From: Rapparee
Date: 12 Jul 07 - 10:01 PM

I've always heard the stale beer or salt route.

Suppose you put out stale cheap beer and put salt in it?

Subject: RE: BS: Slug Control?
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 13 Jul 07 - 07:43 AM

Terrbile thing, having a slug in your bush.

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Slug Control?
From: GUEST
Date: 13 Jul 07 - 07:51 AM

Be careful if you use beer. The Good Lady is a keen organic gardener, and in our old house in the city, she was the only one in the road that didn't use slug pellets. The result was that she ended up running a slug sanctuary. Of course, all the slugs for a mile around were poisonous, so there was no way a herd of hedgehogs could reach us to benefit from this. So she put out beer traps. I was keen on home brewing at the time, so there was the dregs from each brew, plus the bottom of the barrel, always lots of spare beer. And despite thousands of slugs having a happy death, it made little impact on the numbers.

Then one evening, she forgot to put the traps out. We were woken at first light by an ominous hammering on the back door. On opening it, the entire back yard was carpeted with quivering slugs, all holding placards saying "WHERE'S THE BEER?"

Subject: RE: BS: Slug Control?
From: GUEST,PMB
Date: 13 Jul 07 - 07:51 AM

Sorry, that were me.

Subject: RE: BS: Slug Control?
From: Mr Happy
Date: 13 Jul 07 - 07:59 AM

.............heard beer's good for grass control.

You spray your lawn with it so it grows half-cut!

Subject: RE: BS: Slug Control?
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 13 Jul 07 - 08:26 AM

I'll come round and give it a spray if you like, Liz.....

Subject: RE: BS: Slug Control?
From: Folkiedave
Date: 13 Jul 07 - 08:29 AM

Sheffield is/was the centre of the UK scrap industry.

Copper does not last long in a garden around here.

Dave

Subject: RE: BS: Slug Control?
From: JennyO
Date: 13 Jul 07 - 08:54 AM

I don't know why we don't just open a bar for the little blighters - "The Slug Inn". All the beer you can drink and bowls of chips and salted peanuts on the bar to snack on. And a free salad bar. They'd never leave!

You could have a sign - "Slither on in to the Slug Inn!" And if a drunken fight starts, we'll just let 'em 'slug' it out.

Subject: RE: BS: Slug Control?
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 13 Jul 07 - 09:47 AM

strange that the French never got round to eating them, after all they're snails without the shells, that sort of thing.

if they knew they were in line for a garlic sandwich, with a few frogs legs and a bit of vin ordinaire - they wouldn't put themselves about so much,

Subject: RE: BS: Slug Control?
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 13 Jul 07 - 09:52 AM

in fact, they'd draw their horns in....

Subject: RE: BS: Slug Control?
From: Mr Happy
Date: 13 Jul 07 - 10:15 AM

From Wikipedia,

another interesting snippet of info about slugs:

'A commonly seen practice among many slugs is apophallation, when one or both of the slugs chew off the other's penis.

The penis of these species is curled like a cork-screw and often becomes entangled in their mate's genitalia in the process of exchanging sperm.

Apophallation allows the slugs to separate themselves.

Once the penis has been removed, the slug remains female for the rest of its life.

Various species of slug can also reproduce via tiny "darts" of sperm which they fling in the direction of their mate's genitalia.'

Subject: RE: BS: Slug Control?
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 13 Jul 07 - 12:12 PM

slugs have it tough...your best mate chews your dick off and then slings slug spunk at you.

Some nights as a folksinger are a bit like that.

Subject: RE: BS: Slug Control?
From: JennyO
Date: 13 Jul 07 - 12:58 PM

I don't visit those kind of bars.

Subject: RE: BS: Slug Control?
From: danensis
Date: 13 Jul 07 - 01:01 PM

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Nemaslug - you get a bagful of nematodes which you mix into a gallon of water and spray on the garden. As long as there are slugs there the nematodes will breed on them, when there are no slugs left the nematodes die.

John

Subject: RE: BS: Slug Control?
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 13 Jul 07 - 01:02 PM

When somebody offers me a bottle of Kentucky Sour Mash, and says, "Have a slug" I have no control over my urge to acquiesce.
Giok

Subject: RE: BS: Slug Control?
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 13 Jul 07 - 01:06 PM

Nematodes

Subject: RE: BS: Slug Control?
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 13 Jul 07 - 05:58 PM

Once the penis has been removed, the slug remains female for the rest of its life

Well, you would, wouldn't you...

Talk about stating the bleeding obvious!

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Slug Control?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 14 Jul 07 - 09:20 AM

I have a sneaking fondness for the slugs you see crawling as fast as they can across paving stones. They look so vulnerable, courageous and somehow optimistic, with their little eyes stuck out on stalks.

Generally I heave slugs over the next doo neighbour's garden fence. They probably end up eaten by his frogs, but they have a fighting chance.

Subject: RE: BS: Slug Control?
From: GUEST,JTT
Date: 14 Jul 07 - 11:28 AM

Swiss friends living in Tipp have made a raised bed for lettuces. It's got wood all round, and at the top a 4"-wide strip of copper sheeting.

The combination of the drainage because the bed is raised, and the copper, which apparently gives slugs electric shocks, seems to keep them out.

Subject: RE: BS: Slug Control?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 14 Jul 07 - 12:15 PM

That's very Swiss!

Subject: RE: BS: Slug Control?
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 14 Jul 07 - 11:01 PM

Why Swiss - you never see a slug wearing an expensive wrist watch.?
There is no slug filling to Swiss rolls - just strawberry and lemon curd.

They have not made a clock where a slug pops out to tell you that its on the hour.

Slugs don't yodel, or wear little hats with a feather in the side.

I fail to see the connection between the Swiss and slugs.

Subject: RE: BS: Slug Control?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 15 Jul 07 - 12:41 AM

Now look here, a clock where a slug pops out to tell you that it's on the hour just wouldn't sell.

The Swiss aren't stupid.

Subject: RE: BS: Slug Control?
From: JennyO
Date: 15 Jul 07 - 12:55 AM

I'd think a slug clock would run a bit slow too - sluggish in fact.

Subject: RE: BS: Slug Control?
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 15 Jul 07 - 03:34 AM

Unless you dried the slugs out and used them as the hands of a clock....?

Coming up the garden path late one night I trod on something soft and squidgy. My immediate reaction was 'I'm going to get that bloody dog next door and ram that turd back up its arse'... but as it was well into the wee hours, I just went to bed.

The following morning, exiting the house on the way to work, I saw what I'd trodden in.

Stretched out across the path, covering a distance of about 3ft was a large, exploded slug. I'd trodden on one end of it and the other had popped like a crisp packet, scattering internal organs across the pathway.

Slugs have bright yellow intestines.

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Slug Control?
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 15 Jul 07 - 06:00 AM

so if you're looking for a custard substitute - really low fat - two minutes in the microwave, and bobs your uncle.

Subject: RE: BS: Slug Control?
From: artbrooks
Date: 15 Jul 07 - 06:05 AM

Liz, there is a critter in the Pacific Northwest of the US called a banana slug. Once when we lived up there, I went bicycle riding with a group of friends, one of whom took great delight in swerving back and forth across the road mashing slugs. When we returned to our starting place, the bottom half of his bike was covered with bits of yellow yuck.

Subject: RE: BS: Slug Control?
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 15 Jul 07 - 06:11 AM

Bananas with built in custard, yummy!
G

Subject: RE: BS: Slug Control?
From: GUEST,Harry
Date: 15 Jul 07 - 07:17 AM

I use turpentine. Place it in a cut off plastic bottle on soil level with a few lettuce leaves around it.

Subject: RE: BS: Slug Control?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 15 Jul 07 - 10:34 AM

Swiss = well organised

Subject: RE: BS: Slug Control?
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 15 Jul 07 - 11:03 AM

You wouldn't catch a Swiss person chucking their slugs over the wall to the frogs.

They almost certainly put bells round their necks; equip them with a red penknife and a wristwatch, some bars of milky chocolate, a numbered bank account and a decent health plan - in case they bump into you, McGrath.

In fact you couldn't catch a Swiss slug as they are all marvellous skiers. They learn from being children - they go to school on little slug skis.