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HELP! Need ideas from gardeners re: slugs!

post #1 of 17
4/9/11 at 10:59am
Thread Starter 
We have a BIG slug problem out here. If Gary and I weren't feeding a colony of feral cats, I don't think we'd care. The slugs are attracted to the cat food. If they're in, around, or near the food, the cats eat them. Slugs automatically mean lung worm for the cats. It has been a HUGE problem, and any ferals we TNR during spring/summer/fall have them and need to be treated for them.

Last winter we had several ferals we thought had pneumonia and rushed to the vet - and they were full of lung worm. They were too weak to protest being put in a crate.

We have heaps of food grade DE - but we have to spray a rather large area, and it stops being effective when it's wet, which is like most of the time, especially during rainy spring.

We can't use anything to kill them that could hurt the cats walking on it. We're racking our brains to find an alternate solution.

What is something rough the cats won't mind walking on to get to their food that the slugs won't crawl on?

We have large sheets of insulation we used to block wind from blowing under the RV through the winter. We were thinkging about buying large sheets of fine sanding paper and gluing them to it. It would deter the slugs - but will that hurt the cats' paw pads?

We considered large pieces of the fake grass stuff. But I know cats don't like walking on it too much. But they might, to get to the food... but would slugs just crawl across that?

There's also several picnic tables in the RV park in other sites. We could grab one of those. They have metal frames for the benches and top that are made of a rusty metal. The cats obviously can jump up - would the rusty metal supports prevent the slugs from crawling up?

ANY thoughts, suggestions, ideas would be GREATLY appreciated!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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post #2 of 17
4/9/11 at 11:01am
Thread Starter 
Oh - Gary wants me to mention he thought of pouring bags of sand all around the feeding area. But I was worried the cats would then us it as a bathroom. And if it's thin enough - won't it just keep washing away with every rain, defeating the purpose?
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post #3 of 17
4/9/11 at 11:13am
Here is a link for slug control.

http://eartheasy.com/grow_nat_slug_cntrl.htm

I tried beer one time but it didn't work.
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post #4 of 17
4/9/11 at 11:14am
one thing that works is beer: you dig a largish tin can into the ground and half fill with beer. Something about beer attracts slugs and the drown in it. You can also use saucers or things but with cats around, it would get spilt and not do the job.
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post #5 of 17
4/9/11 at 11:14am
Here is a google search that might help with ideas.

My Mom used to use salt. Can't remember if that worked or not.
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post #6 of 17
4/9/11 at 11:29am
Thread Starter 
Beer is great for gardners' plants. My mom placed small dishes of beers at the base of plants, the slugs crawled in and died. I think building some kind of trench around a rather large area and keeping it full of beer (and getting rid of the dead slugs in it LOL) would be difficult and expensive to manage all season - and I'm not sure the cats wouldn't drink it? I know dogs drink it, and there are roaming dogs around here.

Salt isn't a solution, because like the DE, it just melts in rain, and using it constantly can't be good for the ground.

OK - read the link. LAVA ROCK. This we can probably do. We should be able to find lava rocks around here somewhere. There are lots of garden centers. We can build a contained area outlined by lava rocks. The cats could step right over it, and we can place their food inside of that.

If there are more ideas, please keep them coming!

And thanks for all of these!
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post #7 of 17
4/9/11 at 11:57am
What you can do with salt is hit them directly with it, sucks the juice right outta them. They also dont cross gravel very well.
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post #8 of 17
4/9/11 at 12:13pm
In the warmer months I use large stainless dog dishes- the kind with slopped sides and a center dish. I flip those over, fill them with water, then place a smaller bowl on the raised center part. This "moat" keeps out all crawling type insects, especially ants. I've never seen slugs try to cross the 1 1/2 - 2" deep water moat. You could try other containers to hold the water.

This is honestly the cheapest solution I found to use right around the food.

You can use the DE, too, when you want. Other pest control methods involve using benefical nematoads, etc.

My solution to slugs is to attract toads and feed any slugs I catch to my turtles.
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post #9 of 17
4/9/11 at 6:29pm
Thread Starter 
Great idea on the bowls. An area surrounded by lava rocks with food with moats.
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post #10 of 17
4/9/11 at 6:32pm
Slugs cannot cross copper - their moist bodies create a small electric charge or something of that sort. So you could take a 2 ft X 2 ft piece of plywood and "border" it with copper flashing. Garden supply stores do sell copper foil for gardeners to use to protect individual plants.

If you want to safely poison slugs - take an empty 2 liter soda bottle. Remove cap and throw away. Cut plastic bottle apart at the "shoulder." You now have a cylinder and a funnel. Staple the two pieces together with funnel pointing inside the cylinder. Add a spoonful or two of slug bait. Lay it under a shrub or wherever you think slugs will congregate.

The slug bait stays dry. Slugs are attracted by the smell and crawl inside. Cannot figure out how to get back out. Birds, pets, children cannot get at the slug bait. When no longer effective (slug bait used up, too many dead slugs inside) just pick up and toss into garbage can - and no sticky slime-covered hands!
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post #11 of 17
4/9/11 at 6:34pm
I use Sluggo Plus. It's wonderful! However, it is an organic chemical, so it might not be ideal around kitties.
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post #12 of 17
4/9/11 at 6:35pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Catapault View Post
Slugs cannot cross copper - their moist bodies create a small electric charge or something of that sort. So you could take a 2 ft X 2 ft piece of plywood and "border" it with copper flashing. Garden supply stores do sell copper foil for gardeners to use to protect individual plants.

If you want to safely poison slugs - take an empty 2 liter soda bottle. Remove cap and throw away. Cut plastic bottle apart at the "shoulder." You now have a cylinder and a funnel. Staple the two pieces together with funnel pointing inside the cylinder. Add a spoonful or two of slug bait. Lay it under a shrub or wherever you think slugs will congregate.

The slug bait stays dry. Slugs are attracted by the smell and crawl inside. Cannot figure out how to get back out. Birds, pets, children cannot get at the slug bait. When no longer effective (slug bait used up, too many dead slugs inside) just pick up and toss into garbage can - and no sticky slime-covered hands!
Oooooo, another good one. That'll help actually get rid of them in a way I'm comfortable with. Thanks!

And if we can't find lava rocks, the copper flashing on a wood border would work.
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post #13 of 17
4/9/11 at 7:39pm
I was going to suggest the copper, as it essentially electrocutes the slugs. I have huge slug problems, too, and I actually sometimes resort to scooping them up one by one and drowning them in beer or a wine cooler.

I hate killing things, but slugs are very pesty and love Sissy's catfood. I had never heard of lungworm - now something new I need to worry about? She seems to ignore the slugs rather than eat them.
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post #14 of 17
4/9/11 at 9:04pm
Sand paper tears the slugs bodies and kills them ...Also crushed egg shells but you'd need alot of egg shells to cover the area. Anything that is abrasive will rip the slugs bodies as they try to crawl across it to the cats food bowls. They make a type of tar paper that has sandy grit in it that you use to tack on your outside stairs to prevent slips and give traction..Thats inexpensive and I'm sure the cats wouldn't mind walking on it and would kill the slugs..
Or buy some sand paper and lay down around the bowls..Beer works but it also attracts slugs to the area you have the beer so might not be such a good idea.
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post #15 of 17
4/9/11 at 9:15pm
i've also used beer, works great. i also heard that wood ash works and they can't crawl across it. i used to have a big problem til a possom decided to visit my yard at night. they eat slugs and snails
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post #16 of 17
4/10/11 at 2:12pm
Thread Starter 
I know! (Re: opossums). There are a lot of opossums around here - I guess there's just too much other food they prefer to eat LOL.

...and the tar paper is also a great idea. When it's going to rain, we push the food dishes under the deck (we have a good corner of it covered so the rain doesn't drip down between the board slats). A nice big sheet of it would be perfect to shove under there - and it's weather resistant.
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post #17 of 17
4/10/11 at 2:51pm
Have several hundred hosta plants I am well informed on slugs.

Slugs like dark damp places. Don't put the dishes on bark mulch. Don't have any lumber in direct contact with soil as slugs will harbor underneath. They don't like the sun. They can "climb" though. You need to elevate the dishes-any water dishes will be slug magnets. Perhaps you can put food in one area and water in another? Sharp sand/diotomaeous earth-those products will not be effective. Beer does work as mentioned above. Sink clean moist catfood tins in the ground preferably nearby but away from the food. There are slug baits that are non toxic to pets.
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