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Peanut trap

FireFire Posts: 19,096
in Tools and techniques
This year I have laid peanut traps for slugs around my garden, as usual. I go out at night to the pile of nuts and find a mass of writhing critters, easy to pick off. They make a bee line from all across the garden to the traps. I counted 44 slugs and 19 snails in a 50x50cm space. A damp spot under a hedge works extra well. Water the ground in your square and have a wriggling, writhing mass every night.

Hurray! Caramba! Yuk! or Boo!
Depending on your point of view.



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Posts

  • ju1i3ju1i3 Posts: 189
    then what do you do with them?
  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,889
    I'd snip them with scissors: instant, painless and they can still be eaten by other critters.
    Devon.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    That's really interesting Fire - not heard that recommended before. I'd worry about young fledglings eating them though. Do you only do it at certain times of year?

    I'd do the same as Hosta re snipping. A quick death is more humane, and feeds other creatures. 
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,889
    Am I the only person who thinks a " salt bath " is hideously cruel? 
    I'm no expert on anything, especially the nervous system of gastropods, but it just seems a very slow unpleasant way to get rid of them.
    Devon.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    I agree Hosta. Horrible really  :/
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • Mary370Mary370 Posts: 2,003
    Slugs love unsalted peanuts?
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 274
    The user and all related content has been deleted.
  • KT53KT53 Posts: 9,016
    Do you really believe that cutting them in half is humane?  I'll stick with beer traps and the thought that at least they might die happy.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Yes - I do.
    Beer is out of the question - I couldn't have it anywhere near me, or even touch it. For reasons I won't go into   :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • josusa47josusa47 Posts: 3,530
    I have a tender conscience about killing things, but I regard beer traps as assisted suicide.  And I hope they at least die happy, or too drunk to know much about it.  In the interests of economy, I don't use real beer, I brew up sugar solution in a jar in the kitchen, it does just as well.  I empty them onto the soil, and the birds enjoy the marinated corpses.
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