Slugs and snails, and their sorry tales!

[Bayleaf]

As I mentioned briefly elsewhere, I have had to declare war on these slimy little b*ggers!

With all this wet weather, they have defied my current methods of keeping them at bay. The strawberry plants in the old metal wheelbarrows are safe. I don't want to use any type of pellet. So at the moment, I have surrounded a strip of peas with kitchen foil, as apparently the little b*stards can't cross it. Am scattering coffee granules around, and even put OH's cut hair (finally choped after a year - there was a fair bit!), behind another line of peas. Also, from last night, put down a couple of beer traps.

This morning's inspection looks like the foil works well. And the hair. The coffee has been washed away. Where there are beer traps, there was a slug and snail in each - but it looks like they feasted first, then went on a "pub" crawl, and died fat and happy!

The war continues .....!

[exile]

I can recommend Ferramol slug pellets. These are non-toxic to birds, pets, hedgehogs etc. and I think acceptable for bio gardening. Active ingredient is Ferric phosphate which interrupts the slug digestive system. Gamme Vert have a similar product from Fertiligene (or something like that). WE still see the slug and snail trails through the plants but they just don't seem to get eaten.

[niemeyjt]

Nematodes are another environmentally friendly option - this is a UK link - https://www.nematodesdirect.co.uk/6-nemaslug - but I am sure it is in France as well.

Save the beer for Mr Bayleaf!

[MAD87]

I haven't seen a slug since we moved to Oradour. In our last garden, we had big orange (N. Irish) slugs onto which I poured table salt, as seen in my youf. Maybe not "humane" or "eco", but effective.

[Spardo]

While in no way criticising anti pest measures because I recognise that they are defensive, I rejoice in my role as a non-gardener with nothing to protect. My garden is lush and controlled where necessary but is a pest free zone, nothing gets slaughtered here, however humanely, and indeed boots avoid slugs on the ground and snails are rescued from danger and thrown into the long grass to munch to their hearts' content.

The only killing is of things like ticks, fleas, internal worms and mice, in other words those that directly threaten me and mine. Even wasps, frelons, flies and bees are ushered outside where possible, and the occasional spider who races across the floor is given a wide berth and steered towards a corner. Others, large and small, if in the way are captured and released outside though I know some species may suffer as a result.

As it has been proved that snails, and possibly slugs, have a strong homing instinct, I do not in anyway penalise neighbours who care about their plants. Indeed, if there is any communication between these small creatures, we may even drain some from neighbouring gardens.

Bet you wish you had someone, not me but like me, next door.

[exile]

Not at all. I would much rather have someone like you as a neighbour than someone who spots an ant in the grass and sprays the whole garden with something highly toxic not just to ant but the whole biosphere.

[Bayleaf]

Yes, I don't like to kill anything if I can help it (with the exception to ticks and fleas - what is the point to their existence?) Mice can be a nuisance, but they're so darned cute, that if a cat brings them into the house, unscathed, I will intercept and rescue it. She's obviously bringing them to me as a gift anyway, so .....

The raised main potager is set on paving stones, that used to be part of an old piggery. We've now surrounded all sides by a low wall of breeze blocks, with sand filling in any holes. I can protect things growing in separate pots/containers (rasberry and currant bushes don't seem to be affected). The foil edging the main pea line, elsewhere, seems to be working - I may have foiled them there. If I spy any slimy things slinking their way towards my baby plants, they get hurled over the road into the field opposite. The piggery is above road level, and I did snigger thinking I hope no-one is walking past (as we're on a popular walkers route) I know the little so-and-so's will probably slowly make their way back 'home', but whatever!

So, we're initially going to try some pellets, and maybe cheapest rock salt. Scattered all along the base of the outside of the breeze blocks, until I've sorted out more foil edging. So, sadly, some will die, but as the rest of the area is a crumbling mess of pig pens, it's basically bug city - so I don't think I'll be endangering any species anytime soon.

I can't believe they actually like the peppery taste of radish and watercress!! Radish seems to be their favourite. Planting garlic and chives around the edges is also supposed to help - and at least we can enjoy that too.

Oh, and njt - the beer was one can of the cheapest we could find, no danger of Mr Bayleaf wanting that!

[Bayleaf]

p.s. We don't have any neighbours close enough - I'd have to use a powerful sling shot to get snails into their gardens!

[Spardo]

Not at all. I would much rather have someone like you as a neighbour than someone who spots an ant in the grass and sprays the whole garden with something highly toxic not just to ant but the whole biosphere.

Ants are fascinating creatures, how can they pack so much intelligence (albeit shared) and strength into such a small body? They regularly push mounds of soil in my driveway, which is gravel on earth, and I avoid them where I can. Unfortunately and inevitably some get flattened if they occur in my tyre tracks but I am sure not many individuals are harmed. When I drove road trains in the Northern Territory of Australia back in the 60s I was sad to see that the first thing we did when we got to a certain spot was to take axes to those very high clay anthill pinnacles. We only had 2 wagons with double drive in the convoy and when empty had to pile as much weight as possible over those axles because they were the ones that pulled us through the rivers if we got stuck. Nowadays all the rivers are bridged and all the roads sealed so happily I assume, no need to disturb the little buggers any more.

And to Bayleaf. Mice too have a homing instinct so rescued ones must be taken, perhaps kms away, to be sure they have emigrated. I don't have cats but I used to have humane traps and took captives with me on my dog journeys to release in the wild somewhere. I stopped using them when I saw that one was too quick for his health and got halfway back out of the door, breaking his back and paralysing half his body. The process of decapitating him with an axe outside was less painful for him than it was for me, so swift electrocution got rid of the whole tribe. Haven't seen a mouse in the house for years.

After writing my first post this morning I took Jules out for our walk and saw him shaking something in the garden. He stopped on command and I saw a beautiful male Blackbird still alive on the ground. He is interested in but does not touch the dead mice and birds we sometimes see on our walks, but he sensed that this one was alive. I am sure he wouldn't have been quick enough to catch it so it must have fallen, injured from a tree. As I held its warm body in my hand one eye watched me as its beak slowly opened and closed. Seconds later the beak stopped moving and the light dimmed in the eye and I deposited it over the fence into the wild undergrowth, for nature's funeral directors to take care of tonight.

[niemeyjt]

Salt may not be a good long-term solution - it dissolves in the rain.

Other options are things that are hard for a slug/snail to crawl over - e.g. finely crushed eggshells and grit - which also survive rain.