Slugs and Snails.

[TC]

For years the perennial problem of controlling slugs and snails has defeated me.  By accident, I MAY have come up with an effective cure for the problem.
About 14 days ago, I started to go out at dark....about 2300 and look for these pests.  I have been able to intercept them crossing my garden paths on their way to commit mayhem.  Armed with a torch and  broom handle I have squished them and left them on site.  I found that on the next evening the slugs and snails were feasting on the ones I had killed the night before.  This has been the case for the past 14 nights !
Very few have been found anywhere but on their squashed relatives.  At first it was the large leopard slugs... huge bruisers about 4" long, then smaller varieties and then snails.  So far I have despatched about 200 slugs/snails and have not found any on my seedlings...tempting fate ?
I still need to look under my pots to check for slugs resting there and still check on my raised beds for any who have managed to avoid the joys of cannibalism.
It's rather tedious to go out just before bed time, but it only takes about 10 minutes max. and the results seem to be worth it.  I never did like scattering slug pellets around the garden.

[Gail]

Here is one of my solutions.
I have 5 ducks in an acre of garden - I can't remember what a slug looks like.

[Maggi Young]

You win the prize for the cutest pest controller there, Gail!!

[Ezeiza]

You can soak a clay pot well and then leave it in a favored spot at evening. Next morning you will find a few snails in, squash them and leave the remains there. Leave the pot (always on its side) in the same spot or another. Next morning squash the new ones and so on. They eat the remains of those you squashed and then use the pot as a refuge. It is a long known and effective method.

[Ezeiza]

The often mentioned tip of having chicken and ducks eat slugs and snails is not safe as they carry internal parasites that can infect the birds. This has also been known for long.

[Palustris]

Also worth mentioning that many British slugs are actually omnivorous and generally eat each other. The leopard slug is a definite carnivore as is the big black( sometimes brown ) slug.
Snails do far more damage to plants in fact than slugs.
And if you want to see something really gross, then look at dog droppings, they are often smothered in feasting molluscs.

[Anthony Darby]

I saw the title of this thread and was expecting puppy dogs tails to be the next line.

[SJW]

Yes, slugs and snails are intermediate hosts of parasites that infect poultry but if they are free-range I'm not sure how one can stop the birds eating them! Same with earthworms. So, many poultry keepers worm their birds to keep on top of the problem. Good hygiene also helps, and moving the birds to fresh ground if space allows. Some people also swear by cider vinegar and/or garlic in the birds' drinking water.

As an aside, using poultry to control pests does sound attractive, doesn't it? But I'm not convinced - well, not for the vegetable gardener anyway. You let loose some ducks and chickens on a veg patch in active growth (ie when it's most attractive to slugs and snails) and by the end of the day the pests may have gone but so will your crops! I can see the benefit, though, of using the birds to clean the ground and pick over crop residues etc during the non-growing, winter period. 

[David Nicholson]

............Some people also swear by cider vinegar............  in the birds' drinking water.

Will they lay pickled eggs then?

[SJW]

David, folks don't seem to be as fond of pickled eggs as they used to be, there always used to be a big jar on the counter at the local chippie...

I think the cider vinegar is meant to lower the pH in the digestive tract to discourage pathogens. To be honest, I'm not sure if it would work as a wormer but people do rate it as a general tonic and pick-me-up therefore making the birds 'healthier' and more able to fight off infections, parasites etc. I don't know how true this is but it's cheaper than vet bills!

[TC]

Last night, only 3 killed.  Am I winning ?

[John85]

What about beertraps?
How effective are they?
They don't seem very attractive to snails.

[David Nicholson]

Waste of good beer if you ask me

[Peter Maguire]

I think that the beer works best with the following approach:
1. drink beer
2. about an hour later go out in the dark with a torch and suitable method of despatch for the slugs/snails, comforted by the warm fug induced by stage 1 (above).
3. have another beer, content in the knowledge of a job well done.     

[Gail]

The often mentioned tip of having chicken and ducks eat slugs and snails is not safe as they carry internal parasites that can infect the birds. This has also been known for long.

Regular worming is a necessary part of keeping poultry but I've never found that a problem as I use a worming powder that you just sprinkle on their food (unlike worming my cat which used to involve the loss of large chunks of my fingers!).
I agree with Steve that ducks/chickens on a vegetable patch is not a good idea, although chickens are very good at clearing the ground before sowing your veg. The ducks have never been much of a problem although one of the muscovies does like dianthus and several of them enjoy pulling the leaves off an osmanthus bush for some reason....