Slugs and salt

[Ranter]

Back to slugs - my usual method of despatching them is to slice them in half with whatever implement I have to hand. BF is convinced my I'll come back in my next life as a slug...

[wulf]

Back to slugs - my usual method of despatching them is to slice them in half with whatever implement I have to hand. BF is convinced my I'll come back in my next life as a slug...

At least it probably won't be a long life if someone like you is around!

Wulf

[Ranter]

Too true Wulf

[Jove]

Hi, if I catch slugs I throw them in the part of the garden where I keep my chickens. Better is to feed slugs to ducks, because sometimes chickens don't even want to eat slugs. Also I use a biological product called 'escar-go' : it's 100% biological and slugs are attracted to it. It is supposed to dry them out so they die.

[jonc]

I hadn't though of giving them to chickens. We got chickens a couple of days ago, so i think i'll go and look for some slugs for them now :)

[hedgewizard]

I reckon at a slugs pace it must take them at least a week to work their way back to the plot.

Think again. They can smell your tender crops quite well, and tend to travel about 15 feet a night - they can obviously go faster but that's taking into account that they exhibit a semi-random "searching" motion just like a fly in extreme slow motion. And on the ground. Er.

In case anyone's tempted by the ultimate SS solution...

[Shirley]

bleuch Hedgie... thankfully I don't eat slugs or snails... ewwww!!!!

[wulf]

And the moral of that story is cook them well first... (raw with a touch of salt isn't good enough).



Wulf

[the.fee.fairy]

...and make sure that you don't look/smell like a rat!

[Freediver]

If you're having a large slug problem Muscovy Duck (Cairina moschata) are slug eating machines!

They love slugs and will eat all they find.

[adekun]

You can use a salt substitute such as Lo-Salt. These use Potassium chloride in place (to a degree) of Sodium chloride and is therefore more reactive.
Perhaps give your soil a boost at the same time?
Beer traps and slugs hunts are always winners...

[digiveg]

I'm amazed, I really am...all these responses from people who I would probably really like, were we to meet in person - just deciding that it's OK to cut slugs in half, douse them with salt so they die melting...and so on.

If you really, really thought about it even for a second from the slug's point of view - horrible, horrible pain - then you might have second thoughts.

Ending even a slug's life shouldn't be something we just...DO! Imagine if they could scream... Imagine if they could tell you how it feels to be out looking for a meal when...POW!

I go out in the evenings, with a torch, and collect them. The next day I put them somewhere else. It takes me no longer to do that than it does to collect them and douse them with salt, or to pick them up and snip them up. The BIG difference is that, having imagined them screaming, I can sleep.

Please - even if you can't view slugs like that, do it for YOU. Every cause has an effect. You really don't want to know what the results could be. Do the Right Thing.

[Shirley]

Never mind the slugs, I am now worried about Shirlz going to a 'Neeps' meeting, just how long can you talk about neeps for?

Only just read this LOL... not neeps, but NEEPS!

[PurpleDragon]

Please - even if you can't view slugs like that, do it for YOU. Every cause has an effect. You really don't want to know what the results could be. Do the Right Thing.

Which is exactly why I lift mine and throw them across the other side of the garden. I would rather lift the same slug night after night and rehome him than have an unnecessary death on my conscience.

Yes, I applaud my cats when they bring home small furry things, but that is their nature and their job. I don't want rats or mice in my chicken feed. If they are still alive, and rescuable, when they get brought in, then I take them to the bottom of the garden and release them too.

[HILLDREAMER90]

Am inclined to agree with digveg & pdragon. i usualy sent slugs for a short flight or collect in a bucket & rehome. If you are adding organic compost to the gdn,your also adding 10000s of slug eggs,so u can never really get rid compleatly.Just seems bit cruel,especialy the salt method A.