On Thu, 21 Aug 2003 13:16:24 GMT, Heidi
wrote:

run, I don't think the slugs were going to run off on me). It was
cruel, but I took pleasure in tossing the salt onto the invasive and
destructive creatures. Two nights later, all my parsley has been eaten
down to the stems. My money is on the slug community. I think they are
exacting revenge.

Romans used to poison the wells of places from which they were
retreating. It was the ultimate act of spite; if they could not live
there then noone would. They would also salt the lands, so no other
living thing could grow there. Besides killing the ground which is
salted, the salt is almost always ineffective toward slugs because
they shed the outer coat, leaving the salt behind and move on to your
plants twice as hungry because they lost so much water.

If you'd like to kill the slugs without killing the ground around
them, try picking them up and dropping them in a can of alcohol,
vinegar or ammonia. Much less messy than trying to squash them, and
not as dangerous to the soil. Garden store items such as slug-go and
escar-go are also very effective without ruining the environment.

Dan