SLUGS AND BEER - April 1st, 2004 at 06:22 PM
I have a BAD slug problem in the summer, so I thought I'd get some info on this website. Sure enough, when I typed "Slugs" into the search I got a bounty of information! One of the slug remedies was beer. I had heard this before, so last year I tried it. I put a saucer of beer out for the slugs. I even dug out a little spot for the saucer to fit into so it would be level with the ground, to make sure the slugs had easy access. I looked outside several times that evening and watched as more and more slugs gathered at the dish. Next morning I removed the empty saucer, thinking that the slugs had crawled off and died. I assumed that the consumption of the alcohol is what was supposed to kill them. So, that night I placed the saucer back out and filled it again with Coors Light. When I looked outside to check on it after a few hours I was amazed to see three times as many slugs as the night before. I thought the beer was doing it's job...drawing those slimy suckers out of their deepest darkest hiding places. I was thrilled. They drank all the beer in the dish! After four nights of this I got to thinking that something was wrong with this method of slug eradication. I had way more slugs now than I did before. I should have stopped it right then and there, but I thought maybe if I put stronger alcohol in the dish I would see a reduction in slugs the next night. So, the dish was then filled with beer mixed with a little Jim Beam.
(Evidently they had spread the word to every slug in the neighborhood about the "free beer and liquor at Cindy's house every night". The slug partying ended up way out of control. The neighbors were complaining about the noise, some of the slugs were getting mean after they'd had a few and wanted to fight, and they were turning over my pots of seedlings and breaking my little garden ornaments.)
So, no more alcohol for the slugs. The bar was closed!!!
Like I said before, I thought the alcohol in the beer killed them after they drank it. But, I just found out, according to the article I found on this website ("Controlling Slugs and Snails in the Garden", March 13, 1999), the slugs are supposed to fall in the beer and DROWN. I thought the empty saucer was a "good thing", as Martha Stewart would say. I didn't know it was supposed to be filled with drowned slugs the next day! :rolleyes:
So, I am going to try the beer thing again this year. I've printed out some tiny, little posters to put on rocks, plants and all the usual slug hangouts to announce the re-opening of "Cindy's Slug Bar". Only, this time I'm going to be ready. That informative article showed a slug trap made from a plastic jug. This time the beer is going into the plastic jug, and not a saucer!
Thanks for all the great information on this website!
(Evidently they had spread the word to every slug in the neighborhood about the "free beer and liquor at Cindy's house every night". The slug partying ended up way out of control. The neighbors were complaining about the noise, some of the slugs were getting mean after they'd had a few and wanted to fight, and they were turning over my pots of seedlings and breaking my little garden ornaments.)
So, no more alcohol for the slugs. The bar was closed!!!
Like I said before, I thought the alcohol in the beer killed them after they drank it. But, I just found out, according to the article I found on this website ("Controlling Slugs and Snails in the Garden", March 13, 1999), the slugs are supposed to fall in the beer and DROWN. I thought the empty saucer was a "good thing", as Martha Stewart would say. I didn't know it was supposed to be filled with drowned slugs the next day! :rolleyes:
So, I am going to try the beer thing again this year. I've printed out some tiny, little posters to put on rocks, plants and all the usual slug hangouts to announce the re-opening of "Cindy's Slug Bar". Only, this time I'm going to be ready. That informative article showed a slug trap made from a plastic jug. This time the beer is going into the plastic jug, and not a saucer!
Thanks for all the great information on this website!