» Get Rid of Slugs the Natural Way – Invite Them to Happy Hour!

Get Rid of Slugs the Natural Way – Invite Them to Happy Hour!

May 19th, 2006

While February is usually the time to start looking for slugs because they are smaller (and have not eaten all your plants yet), it’s never to late to test a few natural slug-eliminating techniques before you try slug bait. Slug bait works, but unfortunately it also kills animals. Yes, dogs, cats, birds and squirrels are at risk, and the chemical bait can also be harmful to children!

So, try this first

Beer!

No one knows exactly why, but slugs love beer! It might be fun to do a little experiment and drink a different beer every night, sharing some with your slug trap to see what they like best. This will put a little enjoyment into your slug problem.

Anyway, to use beer, just pour an inch or two into a cottage cheese container (or any plastic container) close the lid, then cut notches in the top of the lid. Slugs like to squeeze into small places, so getting into the container will be great fun for them!

Then, bury the container in the ground where you have discovered slug trails, leaving the container lid at least an inch above the ground so they will fall into it. Remember that it is the beer that will kill the slug, and not being trapped in the container, so if your slugs are pretty big, you will want to use more beer – and change it about once a week.

Hopefully your slugs aren’t too big, and you’ll have some beer left for yourself for Happy Hour!

Cheers!