I need help with slugs?

Question

I get up every morning to slug trails in my sitting room, I,ve tried shop bought products and the following salt, beer and oatbran all have failed. I need something that won,t harm animals as I have a dog and two cats. Please help as I,m really fed up.

Answer 1

Look for the source - by the trails - and sprinkle a very small amount of boric acid . Don't let the name scare you as it's harmless to people and pets. Works with ants and roaches too.

Answer 2

First of all, thank you for not harming the slugs.

Even if you didn't have cats and dogs, pellets are very cruel to slugs as well as the animals eating the slugs - they die in hours- or days-long agony, I once saw a hedgehog dying, took it to a vet and he couldn't save it.

And if you pour salt on the slugs... such a death can be compared to a human being thrown in a tub of acid and left to die. Or try pouring salt into your eyes!

Slugs are here in large numbers either because
- the winter was too mild and not enough slugs froze during the hybernation
- they were accidentally imported from other parts of the world and do not have many natural enemies here, like birds, frogs, hedgehogs, foxes, snakes...

And I guess you don't welcome snakes, frogs, foxes and oppossums to your garden, so here are some tips:

You should minimize any hiding places where slugs might go. Slugs generally love to hide when the temperatures are hot and the days sunny. They require shade and moisture so by making sure leaves, boards, mulch, and other such items are kept to a minimum, you will keep the protection spots in control.

Remove slugs and snails by hand. (using a plastic glove, for example. transfer them to somewhere where they don't bother you, like a meadow across the street, for example.

Use the lint from your dryer as a barrier around your seedlings , plants and the entrance to your sitting room. Or sprinkle a line of lime around the entrance.

Also, some plants slugs generally steer clear of: Artemisias, daylilies, Fresia, Lemon balm,
Red cabbage, alyssum, Azaleas, Daffodils, Grapes, Mint, Lungwort, Rosemary, Red oak
leaf lettuce, Basil, Evergreens, Corn, Fennel, Cosmos, Chard, Foxglove, Hibiscus, Ivy Swedish in particular, parsley, sages, tansy, pumpkin, sunflowers, chicory and endive.

Good luck!

Answer 3

Scattered crushed egg shells because they cut their bodies (can also use lava rocks, builders sand, nut shells, shingles or sandpaper), put down coppertape wherever they are coming in from (it needs to be a couple of inches wide to work though), get a jar with beer at the bottom (they prefer Kingsbury Malt Beverage) :)..., wake up in the morning and get rid of them yourself, there is also some stuff called Slug Stop that works up to three weeks (you can get this at garden stores), keep some cedar, oak bark chips around the house (this will dehydrate them), have a barrier of powdered ginger, Cook cabbage leaves until soft, drizzle some butter or lard over them. Place them in slug prone areas. Within several hours the leaves will be swarming with slugs......so much more......

Answer 4

How do the slugs get in the sitting room in the first place??? If you stopped the slugs getting there, you wouldn't have a problem. And how do you know it's not snails? Salt will work, try again. It burns them, salt worked for me. Or use tinfoil, apparently they dont like the texture or sound or something. Or is that cats? lol xXx

Answer 5

For slugs to get in in the first place is very scary what sort of place do you live in? Why not do the house up, clean it throughly and fill in all the holes,especially around doors and windows;also, throw out old carpets. If you do this the slugs will not get in.

Answer 6

What you need is a big gun, possibly with a laser sight.
Wait behind the sofa and when they appear for their midnight feasts leap out from your hiding place and take cover in the dense foliage of the aspidistra on the coffee table.
From here you should be able to train your sights on the slimy little gits and let them have it.
Alternatively, Napalm is an option however low level bombing runs do tend to reduce house prices in the local area and the neighbours could get a bit shirty about this.

Answer 7

Hi
Well you do need to find out why and how they are getting in... follow the trails.... We had slugs used to come in from behind my Mother's dishwasher and eat the cat food.... YUK.... gorge themselves more like! Double yuk! Try sealing any gaps... they hate coffee grounds...seems you have tried the saucers of beer trick....the salt... try the tin foil one .... they must be attracted to something... like my Mum had the cat food dish ..... I am amazed that they have such a good sense of smell or whatever..... they creep me out big time!! good luck...

Answer 8

Two other things work. Take the coffee grounds after you perk the coffee and sprinkle them where they are coming in, or go get some diatomatious earth(sp). If you know someone that has a swimming pool or at a pool supply place. Sprinkle the ground with this, it cuts them up. Also fireplace ashes work if scattered around outside. My hostas are safe with the coffee grounds and wood ashes.

Answer 9

Hey There! Well your best bet is not to fight it! Gather them up, rinse them off, and deep fat fry 'em! Other good thing to do is to roast them in the oven. Salt and pepper them too. Slugs are kinda hard to get over the idea of eating, BUT, they are very high in protein and taste better than you would think. Slugs are a good component in soups and stews and chowders as well. Let me know how it goes!

Answer 10

well they must be getting in some where,does your house have air bricks close to ground level as this could be their point of entry,if so try lowering the soil level along the walls,remove any shrubs or ground cover near the house walls,if you have floor boards and they or coming up through any gaps fill them in,but don't block any air bricks.also try this~http://www.greengardener.co.uk/slug.htm,
also could be snails,check under your window sills and remove any that you find.
Hope this helps