Re: slugs/snails
Karl Hoover wrote:
>
> For snails (Helix aspera) : Ducks -- the ultimate snail predators, (nothing
> comes close to their rapaciousness) They will search out and devour
> whatever snails they can reach.
> Ducks have the strange habit of eating any flowers within their reach.
>
> For slugs: Cheap beer in a dish or bowl with a tent to keep out the rain -
> the little idiots therein love to drown themselves.
Ducks will eat some seedlings as well - being omnivorous. I have been
told on some authority (I have not yet tried it myself) that a turkey
will safely eat the snails/slugs without eating any of the plants.
Then, unless you are a vegetarian, in the fall you have your
thanksgiving dinner (for you non-USA folks, it's an american traditional
meal). Complete recycling.
A San Francisco friend recently told me of her efforts to drown slugs
and snails in beer. She ended up merely keeping them supplied with
alcohol. They drank and then crawled out, without any drowning.
Actually witnessed. Maybe our snails are more aquatic, being so close
to the sea.
I don't use many chemicals or often in the garden, but "Slug and Snail
Death" or its equivalent is a necessity if you want to protect certain
specially vulnerable plants. After a few early morning roundups, the
liquid metaldahyde bait is applied in a thin circle around each valuable
plant. Being in that form, it is not tempting to dogs/cats. The snails
feast on it and are paralyzed (usually not killed) before they reach the
plant - and can be removed. I don't use the pellet form, to prevent
birds and mammals from eating it.
