geordief wrote:
The slugs under the boards look very sick and I suspect they are
terminally poisoned .All the same I kill them off to be sure.

I had never heard before about birds eating the slug pellets but I am
certain something is doing it.

One day I thought I would lay the pellets barrier style around the
base of the individual broccoli plants (as I thought they were
particularly vulnerable) and did I not see a rat break cover very
shortly after (in the daylight) and run back into the bushes when I
disturbed it.

An inspection showed the pellets had nearly all gone.

Piling the in this way was an open invitation to the good rat but
more normal ,sparse applications also disappear almost overnight and
so I suspect birds or mice.

In any event my new technique of protecting the pellets under boards
has worked well even if it more laborious.

I have tried all sorts of methods aside from these ferric phosphate
slug pellets but I have great hope for them if I can overcome this
hurdle (the fact that they are being eaten by something other than
just the slugs.

There is one other suspect I have in my sights and it is the rabbits
that I know also visit. But I doubt very much it could be them.

Cut the bottom 2" off a milk jug. Notch the cut edge of the 2" piece with "U"
shaped "entrances" that slugs can get through but birds and rats cannot. Then
invert the jug bottom over the bait to keep the critters away and the rain off
the bait. The slugs can go in the "doors".