Slug Patrol

[vrdiver]

We live in a fairly slug-infested part of the country (Cheshire) and our neighbourhood seems perfect for them, judging by the number of slugs and snails I see on the paths when taking the dog out last thing at night.

In the garden, I've started a campaign over the last couple of weeks to reduce the damage the wee beasties cause, but without poisoning the other wildlife that might help me by eating them. Orange peel placed in flower beds (ideally a whole half after the fruit has been removed) seems to provide preferred accommodation for slugs during the day, so a periodic check under them to remove any slugs is a quick win. Beer traps (or baking yeast and sugar in warm water) put in a jam jar or coke bottle half-buried (for stability) also gets a few (but are pretty yucky to clean out). Mainly though, after walking the dog, I wander around the garden with a torch and a bowl with a little water, picking slugs off walls, plants, grass, containers, bricks, logs etc etc. (gardening gloves reduce the unpleasantness!) The water lets me swirl the slugs around, knocking any escapees off of the side of the bowl before they can go OTT. Once I've had enough, the contents of the bowl get thrown into a pond where I hope the ducks / frogs / fish / tadpoles etc will enjoy them before they slither back.

Problem is, I have no idea if it's really having an impact: I read somewhere that there could be up to 200 slugs per square meter of garden, so picking 50, as I did tonight, will make miniscule difference from a % viewpoint, and of course if there's an imbalance in population between my garden and my neighbour's, I assume there will be net migration back into mine?

I'd happily adopt a hedgehog, and we do have a few frogs, but does anybody have any other strategies that work, or do I persist with the night patrols in the hope that their long-term impact will be noticeable?

VRD

[scotia]

We dug a pond and it quickly became populated by frogs. And the slug problem largely disappeared. Then when grandchildren arrived, we filled in the pond to avoid accidents, and the slugs returned. Placing sharp grit around the slugs favourite plants helps. And for plants in pots, a strip of copper around the pot also acts as a slug barrier. Encouraging a bird population by supplementary feeding can also help. As also do hedgehogs - but they don't like gardens with dogs. I use slug bait in the greenhouse - where hopefully it will not affect other wildlife.

[supremetwo]

I'd happily adopt a hedgehog, and we do have a few frogs,

Hedgehogs eat frogs, though it would probably need to come across one accidentally.

And last year, I placed a couple of slugs in front of a visiting hedgehog's nose. It sniffed and then totally ignored.

Was it a residual smell of human intervention, the wrong type of slug or was it expecting this typical menu?

https://www.hedgehogstreet.org/help-hed ... hedgehogs/

[abisgran]

I have been doing night patrols for a few years now and have found this has reduced the number of slugs considerably .However I kill them an dispose of the bodies!