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I am a GCSE Product Design student designing a snail trap.

adikosik12o-K0fg-xadikosik12o-K0fg-x Posts: 5
in Problem solving
For my research i need a target market (gardeners) and knowledge of what they could want or need in their garden. All i ask for is to learn about what features you look for if planning to buy a snail/slug trap. If it is above ground or below ground? If it is green to make it blend into the surroundings or bright so you can easily find it? If it kills the pests or just traps them for you to throw them away? Thank you for any feedback, it is much appreciated. And i hope to post here again soon to see if my designs would be in the interests of fellow gardeners.
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Posts

  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Most 'slug traps' are at just below ground level, as they're usually a container with beer in it. It attracts slugs and they fall in, get p*ssed,  and don't get back out. They then have to be tipped out somewhere.
    I'm not sure anyone bothers what colour they are  :)

    I don't use them, for reasons I won't go into. I just snip or squish slugs when I find them.  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    I suppose you could design a beer trap with some sort of strainer with a handle inserted so that you could easily remove the slugs without wasting the beer 
    I'm a scissors snipper too. Maybe a guillotine😉
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • English_girl_in_FranceEnglish_girl_in_France Posts: 108
    Hello, I'm a fairly novice gardener (but probably just the type to buy a slug trap as I wouldn't know how to make one and didn't know it was a thing until I saw this post). I think I would prefer something less visible, also something environmentally friendly, so not plastic and also something which didn't kill them as I'd feel sorry for them 😅😅
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    No point in having a trap then if you aren't going to dispatch them They just come back  :)
    They die happy in the beer.
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    You would need something for the container that wouldn't leak so recycling a plastic container or bottle would be better than unnecessarily depleting even more natural resources.
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • BenCottoBenCotto Posts: 4,718
    I don’t like killing things so I just launch my snails up the garden (or into the neighbour’s garden if they’re out). My hope is they’ll find something tastier to eat, or themselves are taken by birds, as they ooze their way back to my flower and vegetable beds.


    Could you devise a scaled down onager? The word alone would impress your design teacher.
    Rutland, England
  • wild edgeswild edges Posts: 10,497
    I would like a snail trap that distinguishes between the very few species that cause problems in the garden and the other 100 or so non-pest species which are vital to ecosystem health. A healthy garden should have thousands of snails lurking around the place and 99% of them do more good than harm.
    If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
  • AnniDAnniD Posts: 12,585
    The main problem with slug/snail traps is disposing of the messy results. I still have some plastic beer traps somewhere that l haven't used for years. Hedgehogs go for the smaller black slugs, not the mahoosive orange/brown ones. 
    Ideally it should be sunk into the ground but left at least an inch (old school) above the surface to prevent ground beetles etc from falling in.

  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    You can put the whole contents of the trap on the compost heap.
    slugs are good for the compost, mine go in in two halves. 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • tui34tui34 Posts: 3,493
    Hi there.  Maybe a good idea to ask the experts for some ideas.  Snails can't be trapped, they need to be baited with poison.  How about design ideas for attracting the right insects such as ladybirds and animals such as hedgehogs.
    A good hoeing is worth two waterings.

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