Why, the slugs, of course:
They are, sadly, everywhere in my garden right now, big and small, dark and light, long and short...:
Crawling all over - and devouring - my tiny, tender seedlings.
Nasty buggers:
I'd like to dedicate this next picture to CeeCee over at My Little Bit of Heaven:
She's always really impressed with my "huge, poop-sized slugs", as she calls them.
:-)
Slug story, from when we lived in Washington state: We had been out for supper with the kids and they had tried escargots for the first time. Later, our oldest boy, age 6 at the time, came running into the yard with his hands full of something, calling out "Dad, Dad, I brought us some escargots!" When we saw he had a great big double handful of slugs, we wouldn't let him into the house--poor little kid--just shouted directions through a tiny crack at the door, "Drop them, Chris, put. them. down!"
ReplyDeleteOf course, he couldn't, as they wouldn't let go. It took some time and creativity and a variety of household cleaning products to rid him of all the slime. To this day, so many years later, we can get ourselves all going by cupping our hands together in front of us and calling out, "Dad, Dad..."
Thanks for the memories, Danni!
Disposable aluminum pie tins , set into the earth and filled with cheap beer. It's the last drink a slug will ever have. Dispose of regularily, or it get's icky.
ReplyDeleteGreat pictures, though! Sadly, I'm having flashbacks to elementary school... wiping my nose on my sleeve. (Eww.) :D
ReplyDeleteYucky slugs! We have them also but I guess everything isn't bigger in Texas...that is one big slug! Have you tried putting a shallow dish with some beer in the bottom? They will be drawn the to beer and fall in and well...drown. That's what I have heard. Also put some crushed eggshells around your plants. They will not be able to crawl across the eggshells. This too is something I have heard to do to control slugs.
ReplyDeleteOh yes, the true sign of spring for an Oregonian. Ours here on the coast are very prolific. I found babies 1/4" long the other day. I thought they were cute, before I destroyed them.
ReplyDeleteWow. Good luck with that!
ReplyDeleteWow, that's huge. My turtles in the backyard would be saying, hey mom look filet mignon. They love snails, slugs, mealie bugs, etc. But slugs are their meal of choice. See there you need a herd of turtles to help you out. When we moved in here the block walls crawled after a rain....now I have to pay the neighbor kids to gather snails so my turtles have snacks.
ReplyDeleteJust like we could use your rain here in NM, you could use our turtles.
Your photography is wonderful but I think you are mistaken: not slugs.....chicken food! Loose the girls on 'em!
ReplyDeleteWell they are poop-sized- that's a very accurate comparison. Too bad they're not as benign as poop.
ReplyDeleteI think I'm finding that the caffeine doses are helping, although I think I prefer the straight coffee to the powdered caffeine. The sprout radishes I'm growing for seed finally appear to be getting a leg up. Try drenching the area around them with cool, full-caffeinated coffee, and then dump the grounds with it. And then let me know how it worked for you.
Hi there! Welcome back. How ever it works out, it's always interesting to see what is happening at Critter Farm. About the slugs - Linda at 7MSN has shown her chickens eating all kinds of things so I did a Google search for slugs. They do say the chickens will eat them, but also pull up seedlings so they recommended the slugs be caught and given to the chickens. You have so many slugs, but it might help. One person said ducks eat slugs and don't eat seedlings.
ReplyDeleteeeeoooouuu! That reminds me of my murderous past - my sister and I used to pour salt on the slugs that surrounded Mom's plants in Florida. Nasty image! They kind of dissolved like aliens.
ReplyDeleteNancy in Iowa
Good grief, that thing is HUGE! Ewwww.
ReplyDeletei have them too. the can decimate plants in no time. lat year they a ate all the leaves off of my marigolds overnight. i pick them up and throw them on my patio. the birds take them out faster than they took out the plants! my patio and walks are covered in slime design!
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine how you kill something that big and slimy? Do you shoot it?
ReplyDeleteI think ducks eat slugs.
ReplyDeleteI cannot see the diff between eating snails and eating slugs :-) Yet another reason to be glad to be a vegetarian :-)
Hooray, poop-sized slug pictures.
ReplyDeleteNo wait, eeewwwwww!
Geez, I can't make up my mind. I would never, ever go barefoot outdoors. Just the thought of stepping on one gives me the willlies.
p.s. Yup, you need ducks. :)
ReplyDeleteIn Maryland, I used to put out shallow bowls of beer to keep the slugs away from my hostas. The slugs are attracted to the beer, are able to climb in and drown.
Those are great! Hopefully they are edible! If not, I have a variation on the beer in pan thing. Take six pie pans and 6 bottles of beer. Pour 2 ounces from each bottle into each pan. Drink the rest. Guaranteed to make you forget about the slugs!
ReplyDeleteAarrrgghh, my dear daughter (justplaincrazy) never logs out of Google and I forget to check. The comment from her is really from me. :)
ReplyDeleteYou need guineas. They love to eat slugs. Before we got guineas we would pick up slugs by the bucketfulls. The chickens loved to eat them too. The guineas will walk through the garden and pick bugs off of the plants without hurting the plants. That said, they are really dumb birds. LOL. Oh, and noisy too.
ReplyDeleteYou sure those aren't Texas slugs? You know everything in Texas is always bigger. Man those are huge!
ReplyDeleteIts tough to garden with so much it seems at times working against us LOL...
ReplyDeleteWe are battling moles! They are pulling down huge plants faster than I can replace them. I go out to the garden and a 2 foot tomato with green tomatoes on it I might add.. poof gone. All that is left maybe 2" of leaves above ground.. grrrr
So far they have got gosh 8 or more tomtoes. one hardy hibiscus, one elder berry, several pepper plants, sweet potoato plants. Several holly hocks...Well you get the picture! We are trying some sonic wave things and some stuff that is suppose to be safe for veggy gardens.
What do you do about slugs? I put all my egg shells in the garden. I was told that if I did that the slugs and things that crawl wouldnt be able to because they can't crawl over those sharp eggs shells? But I don't have slugs like you do I know! Now those big horn worms that love tomatoes, oh ya we get those! We will see if the eggs shells slow them down any!
Good luck saving your garden from the slugs! :O)
Oh my, I remember giant slugs from my years in B.C. I have a glass slug I bought on Mayne Island. it sits on my kitchen windowsill. That sucker you have there is BIG!!!
ReplyDeleteToo bad I can't post a photo here. Our slugs are presently involved in serious slug mating rituals and horrendous sex on the wall in the dog run. Wolfi dog is astonished and curious but probably too young to understand what's really going on.
ReplyDeleteHappens every spring!
I think that is the biggest slug I've ever seen.
ReplyDeleteThe slugs really are larger in the Pacific Northwest. I never realized it before until my husband (originally from Massachusetts) saw a slug in my parents home in Washington State. he was amazed. Guess that's why they sell rubber slugs in the tourist-y stores in Seattle! :)
ReplyDeleteStaci
Did you know that our state Mollusk in California is the Banana Slug. YES, it's true. I have it on the best authority.
ReplyDeleteNot only do they eat everything in my garden but now, they will have attitudes as well.
Wow! If that's what comes with your wonderful gardening climate, I think I'll keep my hot, humid South! I have slugs,and they do damage, leave tracks, etc., but I hardly ever actually see them, thank God!
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