Re: What's with the snails?

DH says our property has turned into a veritable bird sanctuary,  and I 
cannot argue that. I'm also amazed at how many different bird nests our  little 
property can support at one time. Perhaps they have all become  vegetarians 
though, since both the birds AND the snails seems to thrive in  perfect harmony! 
LOL!
 
Maddy Mason
Hudson Valley, NY zone 5/6
 
In a message dated 6/18/2005 12:02:26 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, Pam Evans  
<gardenqueen@gmail.com writes:

Hmm, I  have tons of hungry birdies, so that must be what's keeping
mine in  check.  There's one spot the slugs & snails collect from where
the  runoff from the lasagna bed puddles up when I water and the birds
quickly  learned to go "fishing" for snacks there every evening.    It's
pretty funny to watch.


On 6/17/05, Theresa  <tchessie@comcast.net> wrote:
> This year is Snail heaven here  too!  We've had rain fall to late this
> year (it actually rained  again yesterday).  I've lived here for 7 years
> now- and prior to  this year it has NEVER rained in June.  This year,
> it's already  rained twice.  So the snails have devoured all of my hostas
> and  about 3 weeks ago I just gave up and decided I'd have none this
>  year.  I kill all the snails i find.  (on sunny days it is  particularly
> satisfying to hurl then into the middle of the street  where they will
> quickly cook or get eaten by the birds).  Sorry  to hear you are also
> being slimed by all these mollusks!
>  
> Theresa
> 
> MyTGoldens@aol.com wrote:
> 
>  >Hello Everyone! Long time no see me! It's Maddy Mason here, from   Accord 
NY.
> >I usually pop back up in the Summer, at the height of  gardening  season, 
then
> >disappear to the depths of the other  parts of my life for another  year!
> >
> >I hope this  season finds all of you thriving along  with your gardens! 
Now,
>  >this may not apply to everyone, since we all live  in such vastly  
different
> >climates and parts of the country, but here in the   Northeast, or at 
least my
> >little corner of it, we are so overrun  with snails  that walking around 
sounds
> >like the crunching of  snow, but it's the crunching of  little snails!
> >
>  >We've lived here 5 years, and always had plenty of slugs to  deal  with. 
A few
> >years ago we discovered the miracle of the new organic  slug  killers such 
as
> >Sluggo, that use harmless iron  phosphate very effectively. Well,  
harmless to
> >other  wildlife, which is good! This stuff works fairly well on  slugs,
>  >although frequent applications are still necessary for good control.  But 
 where has
> >this explosion of snails come from? (I noticed  a lot of them last  year, 
but
> >this year is worse than ever.)  The stuff doesn't work nearly as well  on 
the
> >snails,  although it helps some. And it's not just my yard, due to some   
upheaval
> >of the natural balance of things. I have neighbors here,  and  friends in 
other
> >parts of NYS with the same  problem.
> >
> >My garden covers various sections of a good  sized area of land  (close to 
an
> >acre), so barrier methods  are useless. No matter what I do, I  still find
> >scads of the  crunchy critters chewing up my irises, daylilies,  
delphiniums,
>  >Lupines, even hairy poppies, and anything else they can get their   slimy 
teeth on.
> >(Slimy teeth?) Keeping the ground very clear of  litter helps  some, but 
not
> >all that much. And yes, I  handpick, but, as with the Japanese  Beetles 
scheduled
> >for  imminent arrival, I could do that the entire day and never  get  
ANYTHING
> >else done!
> >
> >Anyone have a clue  what might have caused this? We didn't even have  a 
very
> >wet  Spring this year either. I think next year I'll get out the Sluggo   
much
> >earlier. Perhaps that might put a lid on it, before it gets  so out of  
control.
> >I dunno!
> >
> >Happy  digging to All!
> >Maddy Mason
> >zone 5/6
>  >Hudson Valley, NY (No, do not even THINK of telling me to  eat them!  )

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