I've had enough of getting up every morning to find big holes in all my
plants... I've tried rounding the snails up at midnight by torchlight,
dumping them a few hundred yards away but I've just noticed a couple of my
plants have literally dozens of tiny baby snails stuck all over them, and
I've had enough. It's them or me!!

I've put my humane compassion aside & put down some of the metaldehyde
pellets in the obvious places, taking care to cover them or put them in
inaccessible (for pets) places like down the side of the shed and
underneath, and in all the potted plants that are off the ground.

Question is, does anyone have any experience with dogs or cats sniffing them
out and eating them? I don't think my dog (and the neighbourhood cats) can
get to them, but would an animal work hard to get at them? I get the feeling
I'm going to need another application within a week or two, but I don't want
to risk putting them in the best places if the stupid dog is going to eat
them.

There are two types of slug pellets out there - ones based on Metaldehyde and Methiocarb which are potentially lethal to pets, wildlife, children etc. - and Ferramol's Advanced Slug Killer Organic slug pellets which are based on Ferrous Phosphate - which is a form of iron.

These last ones are considered to be "organic" because they are based on a naturally and widely occurring substance (iron) which is not supposed to be harmful to anything aside from slugs and snails. Having said that iron can cause acute liver damage and death in mammals in even moderate doses, so there must still be a risk attached to these too.

I read a post on another forum about a garden hedgehog that was excreting turquoise droppings due to the excessive number of slug pellets it had eaten.

Though this is what the Hedgehog Preservation Society says:

"Although hedgehogs may not necessarily eat the pellets, they are very likely to eat the poisoned slugs and snails and, although these may not be lethal to hedgehogs, they may cause serious internal damage. If you must use slug pellets, put them inside pieces of pipe or under stone slabs where hedgehogs can't get at them. We believe, however, that a "beer-trap" (i.e. a pot of stale beer sunk in the ground) is an equally effective way of killing slugs. In any case, as an extra precaution, all dead slugs should be regularly removed."

Metal (Iron or Aluminium) based pellets are at least as effective as metaldehyde in terms of dispatching slugs, so there's no need to use something as toxic and indiscriminate in it's actions these days.

If you don't want to use pellets there are all sorts of other options depending on how large an area you need to protect. Depending on the size of area/plants that you need to protect barriers can be extremely effective and are much more permanent than any pellets particularly during wet weather.

Spiky things like crushed eggshells, old scourers and sharp gravel are certainly effective. Ecocharlie recycled ceramic shard work even better since they absorb the mucous and stop the slugs getting across at all, as well as being spiky.

You can also use copper bands which give them a tiny electric shock, and placing traps - beer traps, as above, or just pieces of wood, stone, card or carpet that act as shelters - outside the barriers will allow you to collect them in the day time.

Another option are "Nemaslug" nematodes - parasites of slugs and snails that live in the soil & that you water into the ground.

On Mon, 23 Aug 2010 15:10:31 +0100, "Mentalguy2k8"
wrote:

I've had enough of getting up every morning to find big holes in all my
plants... I've tried rounding the snails up at midnight by torchlight,
dumping them a few hundred yards away but I've just noticed a couple of my
plants have literally dozens of tiny baby snails stuck all over them, and
I've had enough. It's them or me!!

I've put my humane compassion aside & put down some of the metaldehyde
pellets in the obvious places, taking care to cover them or put them in
inaccessible (for pets) places like down the side of the shed and
underneath, and in all the potted plants that are off the ground.

Question is, does anyone have any experience with dogs or cats sniffing them
out and eating them? I don't think my dog (and the neighbourhood cats) can
get to them, but would an animal work hard to get at them? I get the feeling
I'm going to need another application within a week or two, but I don't want
to risk putting them in the best places if the stupid dog is going to eat
them.


Get some nematodes.
--
http://www.bra-and-pants.com
http://www.holidayunder100.co.uk

"mogga" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 23 Aug 2010 15:10:31 +0100, "Mentalguy2k8"
wrote:

I've had enough of getting up every morning to find big holes in all my
plants... I've tried rounding the snails up at midnight by torchlight,
dumping them a few hundred yards away but I've just noticed a couple of my
plants have literally dozens of tiny baby snails stuck all over them, and
I've had enough. It's them or me!!

I've put my humane compassion aside & put down some of the metaldehyde
pellets in the obvious places, taking care to cover them or put them in
inaccessible (for pets) places like down the side of the shed and
underneath, and in all the potted plants that are off the ground.

Question is, does anyone have any experience with dogs or cats sniffing
them
out and eating them? I don't think my dog (and the neighbourhood cats) can
get to them, but would an animal work hard to get at them? I get the
feeling
I'm going to need another application within a week or two, but I don't
want
to risk putting them in the best places if the stupid dog is going to eat
them.


Get some nematodes.

How effective are they against snails? I was under the impression they only
worked on slugs under the surface?

"Mentalguy2k8" wrote ...
"mogga" wrote
wrote:

I've had enough of getting up every morning to find big holes in all my
plants... I've tried rounding the snails up at midnight by torchlight,
dumping them a few hundred yards away but I've just noticed a couple of
my
plants have literally dozens of tiny baby snails stuck all over them, and
I've had enough. It's them or me!!

I've put my humane compassion aside & put down some of the metaldehyde
pellets in the obvious places, taking care to cover them or put them in
inaccessible (for pets) places like down the side of the shed and
underneath, and in all the potted plants that are off the ground.

Question is, does anyone have any experience with dogs or cats sniffing
them
out and eating them? I don't think my dog (and the neighbourhood cats)
can
get to them, but would an animal work hard to get at them? I get the
feeling
I'm going to need another application within a week or two, but I don't
want
to risk putting them in the best places if the stupid dog is going to eat
them.


Get some nematodes.

How effective are they against snails? I was under the impression they
only worked on slugs under the surface?
They don't work on anything in my experience, expensive waste of money.

--
Regards
Bob Hobden
W.of London. UK

Bob Hobden wrote:
Get some nematodes.
How effective are they against snails? I was under the impression they
only worked on slugs under the surface?
They don't work on anything in my experience, expensive waste of money.

We have a patch of strawberries that were nematoded and a patch that
weren't, and I can promise you that they make a huge difference.

wrote
Bob Hobden wrote:
Get some nematodes.
How effective are they against snails? I was under the impression they
only worked on slugs under the surface?
They don't work on anything in my experience, expensive waste of money.

We have a patch of strawberries that were nematoded and a patch that
weren't, and I can promise you that they make a huge difference.

In your case slug pellets would have worked better/cheaper I'm sure,
especially as you probably had the plants netted to stop the birds eating
the fruit so no reason not to use them.
In my case I tried the advised repeated treatments on our potato patch and
did not notice any improvement on normal, so as far as I'm concerned they
don't work on ground slugs and at the price they charge how many sacks of
organic potatoes can one buy.

--
Regards
Bob Hobden
W.of London. UK

"Sacha" wrote
"Bob Hobden" said:
"Mentalguy2k8" wrote ...
"mogga" wrote
wrote:

I've had enough of getting up every morning to find big holes in all
my
plants... I've tried rounding the snails up at midnight by torchlight,
dumping them a few hundred yards away but I've just noticed a couple
of my
plants have literally dozens of tiny baby snails stuck all over them,
and
I've had enough. It's them or me!!

I've put my humane compassion aside & put down some of the metaldehyde
pellets in the obvious places, taking care to cover them or put them
in
inaccessible (for pets) places like down the side of the shed and
underneath, and in all the potted plants that are off the ground.

Question is, does anyone have any experience with dogs or cats
sniffing them
out and eating them? I don't think my dog (and the neighbourhood cats)
can
get to them, but would an animal work hard to get at them? I get the
feeling
I'm going to need another application within a week or two, but I
don't want
to risk putting them in the best places if the stupid dog is going to
eat
them.


Get some nematodes.

How effective are they against snails? I was under the impression they
only worked on slugs under the surface?
They don't work on anything in my experience, expensive waste of money.

Oh, Bob - they do! We use nematodes on the Mypex here and in 11 years
I've seen one vine weevil and the slug numbers are very low indeed. But
it's important to keep it going. They're more successful on slugs than
snails, though.

Sorry Sacha, but that is not my experience with ground slugs in our potatoes
and the retail cost is much too high to keep up the constant application
year after year without seeing any improvement within the first season.
Impossible to use slug pellets on ground slugs, a seasons use of Nematodes
showed no improvement**, so we plant enough (slug resistant) potatoes to
throw away those with large holes, it's also the cheapest option by far.
(and probably the most environmentally friendly)
This, however, does restrict the varieties of potato we grow.
Other uses for different Nematodes may work but I would need a lot of
convincing to sport out the sort of money they charge retail when there are
tried and tested alternatives and at a fraction of the cost.
** possibly due to soil type, but who knows.
--
Regards
Bob Hobden
W.of London. UK

For gardeners, about £10 for 40sq m. You probably get them a lot cheaper!

On Mon, 23 Aug 2010 15:10:31 +0100, "Mentalguy2k8"
wrote:

I've had enough of getting up every morning to find big holes in all my
plants... I've tried rounding the snails up at midnight by torchlight,
dumping them a few hundred yards away but I've just noticed a couple of my
plants have literally dozens of tiny baby snails stuck all over them, and
I've had enough. It's them or me!!

I've put my humane compassion aside & put down some of the metaldehyde
pellets in the obvious places, taking care to cover them or put them in
inaccessible (for pets) places like down the side of the shed and
underneath, and in all the potted plants that are off the ground.

Question is, does anyone have any experience with dogs or cats sniffing them
out and eating them? I don't think my dog (and the neighbourhood cats) can
get to them, but would an animal work hard to get at them? I get the feeling
I'm going to need another application within a week or two, but I don't want
to risk putting them in the best places if the stupid dog is going to eat
them.

When I was using pellets I never saw anything being harmed by eating
them apart from slugs. They seem to be reasonably pet safe but there
is no way I know if visiting animals and birds have trouble if they
eat the pellets.

I find the pellets themselves look a mess so I have stopped using
them. Since then my garden has adapted itself to only grow slug
resistant plants.

Steve

--
EasyNN-plus. Neural Networks plus. www.easynn.com
SwingNN. Forecast with Neural Networks. www.swingnn.com
JustNN. Just Neural Networks. www.justnn.com

Neural Planner Software Ltd www.NPSL1.com
Twitter http://twitter.com/npsl1

"Stephen Wolstenholme" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 23 Aug 2010 15:10:31 +0100, "Mentalguy2k8"
wrote:

I've had enough of getting up every morning to find big holes in all my
plants... I've tried rounding the snails up at midnight by torchlight,
dumping them a few hundred yards away but I've just noticed a couple of my
plants have literally dozens of tiny baby snails stuck all over them, and
I've had enough. It's them or me!!

I've put my humane compassion aside & put down some of the metaldehyde
pellets in the obvious places, taking care to cover them or put them in
inaccessible (for pets) places like down the side of the shed and
underneath, and in all the potted plants that are off the ground.

Question is, does anyone have any experience with dogs or cats sniffing
them
out and eating them? I don't think my dog (and the neighbourhood cats) can
get to them, but would an animal work hard to get at them? I get the
feeling
I'm going to need another application within a week or two, but I don't
want
to risk putting them in the best places if the stupid dog is going to eat
them.

When I was using pellets I never saw anything being harmed by eating
them apart from slugs. They seem to be reasonably pet safe but there
is no way I know if visiting animals and birds have trouble if they
eat the pellets.

I find the pellets themselves look a mess so I have stopped using
them. Since then my garden has adapted itself to only grow slug
resistant plants.

Did you find the pellets effective?

The only slug/snail-resistant plants I seem to have in my garden are weeds!!
Everything else has big holes in the leaves, and various shoots chewed off
at the base. I even used an old shelving unit to put the more fragile plants
onto, but they're chewed as well and there is "snail poo" all over the top
of it. Last week I found a slug in a hanging basket, he must have climbed a
6-foot fence and made his way along the bracket into the plant

They're determined little critters!

On Mon, 23 Aug 2010 16:23:02 +0100, "Mentalguy2k8"
wrote:

Did you find the pellets effective?


Not really. They kill slugs on contact but there always seems to be
more live ones lurking about.

The only slug/snail-resistant plants I seem to have in my garden are weeds!!

My garden has slowly reached a balance of slug free plants. I think
the majority are plants that I would describe as a bit too rough for
slugs to eat. Then there are a lot of very small bushes. At the moment
the flowering areas are dominated by geraniums and Saponaria that
slugs don't touch.

Everything else has big holes in the leaves, and various shoots chewed off
at the base. I even used an old shelving unit to put the more fragile plants
onto, but they're chewed as well and there is "snail poo" all over the top
of it. Last week I found a slug in a hanging basket, he must have climbed a
6-foot fence and made his way along the bracket into the plant

They're determined little critters!

I have seen snails climbing up the house walls. It's a mystery what
they are looking for.

Steve

--
EasyNN-plus. Neural Networks plus. www.easynn.com
SwingNN. Forecast with Neural Networks. www.swingnn.com
JustNN. Just Neural Networks. www.justnn.com

Neural Planner Software Ltd www.NPSL1.com
Twitter http://twitter.com/npsl1

On 23/08/2010 17:59, Stephen Wolstenholme wrote:
On Mon, 23 Aug 2010 16:23:02 +0100, "Mentalguy2k8"
wrote:
They're determined little critters!

I have seen snails climbing up the house walls. It's a mystery what
they are looking for.


Don't leave any windows unlocked, before you know it they'll nick your
telly! ;-)


--
David in Normandy.
To e-mail you must include the password FROG on the
subject line, or it will be automatically deleted
by a filter and not reach my inbox.

David in Normandy wrote:
I have seen snails climbing up the house walls. It's a mystery what
they are looking for.
Don't leave any windows unlocked, before you know it they'll nick your
telly! ;-)

I found a snail indoors on one of my orchids last week!
I have never seen that before.

On Mon, 23 Aug 2010 18:35:05 +0200, David in Normandy
wrote:

On 23/08/2010 17:59, Stephen Wolstenholme wrote:
On Mon, 23 Aug 2010 16:23:02 +0100, "Mentalguy2k8"
wrote:
They're determined little critters!

I have seen snails climbing up the house walls. It's a mystery what
they are looking for.


Don't leave any windows unlocked, before you know it they'll nick your
telly! ;-)

They can watch the TV from the wall above the window. They don't even
need a license.