Humanely Deter Slugs & Snails (simple tips)
Slugs and snails are part of the garden ecosystem, so please don’t use pellets to kill them. Not only does this harm them, it harms wildlife (like birds, hedgehogs and frogs) that eat them. And can also harm pets and children, and poison the soil.
Having said that, there are ways to humanely deter them, if you don’t want slugs and snails munching through your prize vegetables and flowers.
Keep dogs away from slugs, snails and amphibians as they could get lungworm (symptoms can take weeks to appear: coughing, lethargy, abnormal breathing and bleeding). It’s a medical emergency. Change water in outdoor bowls regularly to help avoid lungworm. Read more on pet-friendly gardens.
Never use slug and snail pellets
- These are lethal to all wildlife, plus birds (that eat poisoned slugs and snails). They also can harm pets and children. Dispose of at hazardous waste (don’t pour down drains). You can ask your council to collect, if you don’t drive.
- Even ‘organic slug pellets’ should be avoided, as some contain iron phosphate which can harm pets (some resemble kibble). And they cause awful deaths for creatures.
‘Natural slug/snail control’ myths
There are many books and websites that recommend ‘natural methods’. This may be well-meaning, but most don’t work and can even harm:
- Broken glass can harm birds, wildlife, pets and children
- Spices, coffee and essential can harm pets and wildlife
- Copper can suffocate snails, or give electric shocks.
Work with nature (garden organically)
If you garden organically, you’ll find that birds will eat slugs and snails. Leave your garden a bit ‘messy’ with log piles to attract hedgehogs and frogs. Ensure ponds have sloping sides (avoid netting, which has no place in wildlife gardens).
Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust teaches us that slugs are eaten by beetles, slow worms, frogs, toads and hedgehogs. Snails are eaten by hedgehogs, toads, blackbirds, thrush birds, mice, centipedes and even glow warm larvae. Badgers and foxes also eat slugs and snails.
The Good Slug Guide busts the myths and also offers a way to live with slugs and snails, rather than harm them. Written by an expert who has spent 30 years studying the subject, he says that it’s a myth that hedgehogs and frogs will take care of everything, as they often eat beetles that eat slugs!
Forget copper and killing slugs. Just add more plants and organic matter, prune and dig less, and this should take care of issues naturally. Jo tells us:
- The average garden has 35,000 slugs, so no ‘control’ will ever work.
- Slugs are harmless and some eat other slugs. So you may be killing the slugs that would do the work for you anyway.
- Slugs are active after rain, but actually don’t like it. They will try to find shelter.
Molluskit (a physical barrier invention)
Molluskit is a barrier made mostly from recycled material, invented by a ‘garage tinkerer’ who loves earthworms! The ‘comb design’ clicks together to stop access to plants above ground (and blocks access to root/bulb systems).
It’s tested by Scotland’s Rural College to be 86% effective. This is because although the average garden contains around 30,000 slugs and snails, 95% are underground. For larger gardens and allotments, buy multiple kits to fit together.
Grazers G2 (nontoxic liquid deterrent)
Grazers G2 is a mix of plant extracts and calcium (good for plants) that’s applied to plants, to make them unpalatable to slugs and snails. This company makes a similar product to deter cabbage white butterflies and red lily beetles.
The main product is used to make grass unpalatable to wild rabbits and other creatures (so don’t use on grass where pets eat).
Seen a motionless snail?
Snails on walls that look dead are likely in ‘suspended hibernation’. They usually ‘come back to life’ when it rains. Small snails with soft shells are usually okay (the shells harden with age).
If you find a snail that’s trodden on, if it’s a slight crack, it should recover. But if the shell is badly smashed, the snail will likely die slowly of dehydration. So it may be kinder to give a few ‘quick heavy stamps to Snail Heaven’, to stop further suffering.
Get to know (and love!) slugs and snails
Our slimy friends are quite the charm, once you know them! The world’s slowest creatures have muscular ‘feet’ to move using tentacles (freshwater/marine snails breathe through gills).
Snails live on dead bark, herbs, fungi, algae and animal scat. They lay up to 100 eggs (only half will hatch). Slugs are similar, they simply have no shells (so live underground, and only come out when it rains – they hibernate in winter).
Grandmother Ruth Brooks won a BBC Radio 4 competition as England’s top amateur scientist, for her discovery on homing instincts of snails. Her ruthless vendetta against snails turned into a journey of wonder, as ‘dumped snails’ in a far-off wood would return home!
She eventually gave up, and instead read up on the surprisingly romantic life of snails. And realised that it’s good to enjoy the slow life, and accept that snails are here to stay!
