{"id":2509,"date":"2020-05-04T11:47:46","date_gmt":"2020-05-04T18:47:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.loghouseplants.com\/blogs\/greengardening\/?p=2509"},"modified":"2020-05-04T11:47:46","modified_gmt":"2020-05-04T18:47:46","slug":"safer-slug-solutions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.loghouseplants.com\/blogs\/greengardening\/2020\/05\/safer-slug-solutions\/","title":{"rendered":"Safer Slug Solutions"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Death by salt is cruel and painful. Try a toad.<\/p>\n

Kinder, Gentler Killers<\/strong><\/p>\n

This has been a banner year for slugs; yesterday I counted over 40 babies and moms in a single flat of 4-inch pots. I\u2019m more laissez faire than I used to be and won\u2019t kill slugs or bugs unless they\u2019re doing obvious damage, but this little herd was mowing down my veggie starts before they could get started. Sorry, critters. It\u2019s doom time for you. So what\u2019s the best way to off a slug without cruelty? Ecologically speaking, it\u2019s the oldest; predators. Toads, frogs, moles, shrews, and songbirds are all slug eaters, as are ducks and chickens. In an organic garden, predators can safely feed on slugs and bugs, and the balance of nature rarely gets out of hand.<\/p>\n

Even in urban settings, ground beetles and birds can keep the slug population adequately low, as long as no toxins are present. Some folks argue that an abundance of slugs means our garden ecosystems are out of balance. That may be true to some degree, but it may just mean that the weather is favoring slugs over veggie starts. I admit that in a bad slug year, I\u2019m not above giving nature a nudge. Back in my college days, an elderly Quaker friend asked college kids to buy beer for her so she could bait for slugs without shocking the neighbors at the grocery store. She put a little beer in a jar, then placed it where slugs could crawl in and drown. Given the willingness many fellow students displayed toward drowning themselves in beer, I figured this wasn\u2019t such a bad death, certainly better than salt, which offers an agonizing death by burning desiccation. That\u2019s just mean.<\/p>\n

Best Beer Or The AA Special<\/strong><\/p>\n

Independent tests (and not just mine!) show that St. Pauli Girl Dark is the most slug-attractive beer, but pretty much any kind will do. It only takes an inch or so (even of flat dregs) to drown slugs in presumable bliss. Those who prefer not to mess with alcohol can make an attractive bait with watered-down sour dough starter or this even more compelling concoction:<\/p>\n

Safer Liquid Slug Bait<\/strong><\/p>\n

1\/4 cup sugar
\n1 teaspoon baker\u2019s yeast
\n1 cup warm water<\/p>\n

Mix ingredients in a jar and let stand 20 minutes before using. Makes about 1 cup, use in beer traps. Highly attractive to indoor fruit flies and fungus gnats.<\/p>\n

No Great Bait<\/strong><\/p>\n

What about \u201csafe\u201d bait? For years, I promoted the careful use of iron phosphate based baits, which were considered deadly to mollusks but harmless to vertebrates. Like a lot of organic gardeners and growers, I was horrified to learn that wasn\u2019t true. Iron phosphate itself is a harmless naturally occurring substance found in many kinds of soils and even in streams and waterways. To convert iron phosphate to a toxic form, manufacturers add a substance called EDTA (Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid). In itself harmless to vertebrates, in combination with iron phosphate, EDTA creates iron toxicity not just in molluscs like slugs and snails but in cats, dogs, birds, and also in worms. Because it wasn\u2019t considered an active ingredient, EDTA wasn\u2019t listed on the bait packages, so it required some investigation to reveal the full ingredient list.<\/p>\n

It turns out that vets had been seeing dogs and cats with relatively mild (but still nasty) \u201csafe bait\u201d poisoning for years. We now know too that iron phosphate baits can kill worms, which even the metaldehyde baits don\u2019t do. Recognizing this, some countries now insist that EDTA be labeled as an active rather than inert ingredient, making these baits ineligible for organic certification. In the USA, there have been several unsuccessful attempts to get such baits de-listed, but they encountered significant push back from manufacturers and were dropped. (Surprise!)<\/p>\n

Buyer Beware<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hearing about my slugfest, a kind neighbor offered me some commercial slug killer. Several people got involved in our conversation, asking what\u2019s so bad about metaldehyde baits. For starters, they\u2019re quite toxic to wildlife, people, and pets as well as pests; many a dog has been harmed or even killed by eating slug bait. According to the EPA, \u201cMetaldehyde is a systemic toxin. There is no antidote.\u201d But wait, there\u2019s more: \u201cHarmful if swallowed. Harmful if inhaled. Causes moderate eye irritation. Harmful if absorbed through the skin. Avoid contact with eyes, skin, or clothing. Avoid breathing dust. IMPORTANT<\/strong> This product can be harmful to children and fatal to domestic animals when ingested. Children and dogs may be attracted to the product. Application of this product is prohibited unless children and domestic animals can be excluded from the treated area from the start of the application until application material is no longer visible.\u201d<\/p>\n

People who actually read the label are usually horrified, especially when they discover that safely disposing of toxic baits isn\u2019t simple. Per the EPA: \u201cDo not contaminate water food or feed by storage and disposal. This product can be harmful to children and fatal to dogs and other domestic animals if ingested Dogs have been known to ingest metaldehyde after opening or tearing packaging Store this product in its original packaging in a cool, secure location, and out of reach of children and pets.\u201d<\/p>\n

Can I Toss It?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cTo avoid wastes, use all materials in this container by application according to label directions. If wastes cannot be avoided, offer remaining product to a waste disposal facility or pesticide disposal program (often such programs are run by state or local governments or by industry). Nonrefillable container Do not reuse or refill this container Completely empty bag into application equipment Then dispose of empty bag in a sanitary landfill or by incineration.\u201d Yikes! I\u2019m putting out toad houses, how about you?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This has been a banner year for slugs; yesterday I counted over 40 babies and moms in a single flat of 4-inch pots. I\u2019m more laissez faire than I used to be and won\u2019t kill slugs or bugs unless they\u2019re doing obvious damage, but this little herd was mowing down my veggie starts before they could get started. Sorry, critters. It\u2019s doom time for you. So what\u2019s the best way to off a slug without cruelty? Ecologically speaking, it\u2019s the oldest; predators. Toads, frogs, moles, shrews, and songbirds are all slug eaters, as are ducks and chickens. In an organic garden, predators can safely feed on slugs and bugs, and the balance of nature rarely gets out of hand. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[760,1153,966,43,1933,1147,130,182,2028],"tags":[2037,2039,2038],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1lB7f-Et","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.loghouseplants.com\/blogs\/greengardening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2509"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.loghouseplants.com\/blogs\/greengardening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.loghouseplants.com\/blogs\/greengardening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.loghouseplants.com\/blogs\/greengardening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.loghouseplants.com\/blogs\/greengardening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2509"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.loghouseplants.com\/blogs\/greengardening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2509\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2511,"href":"https:\/\/www.loghouseplants.com\/blogs\/greengardening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2509\/revisions\/2511"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.loghouseplants.com\/blogs\/greengardening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2509"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.loghouseplants.com\/blogs\/greengardening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2509"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.loghouseplants.com\/blogs\/greengardening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2509"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}