It looked like a zombie apocalypse !

JodieDownUnder
JodieDownUnder Posts: 1,483 admin

We are half way through spring here in Australia and the seasons looking pretty good on the east coast. A wet summer/autumn is predicted and we've had some nice rain in recent weeks. The veggie garden is starting to jump into action but I'm having serious trouble with slugs. A lot of my seedlings are being eaten by these little varmits. So yesterday I took 3 bottles of beer and some plastic containers over and placed them strategically around. Within 1/2 an hour slugs appeared, sliding up the containers and to their death. I rubbed my hands with glee. 1 hr later, it seemed slugs had been drawn to action and slowly slid their way toward the aroma that seems to really get their attention. This morning every container had many dead slugs. One happy gardener.

So what is it about beer that attracts these very hungry pests?

Comments

  • tomandcara
    tomandcara Posts: 712 ✭✭✭✭

    @jodienancarrow I am pretty sure it is the smell of the beer that attracts them.

  • NarjissMomOf3
    NarjissMomOf3 Posts: 113 ✭✭✭

    So when beer is not an option, what other tactics are there?

  • Tave
    Tave Posts: 952 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Beer has been the downfall of more than slugs:) I kinda like it, too. If beer is not an option, would a small flock of ducks be a possibility? I haven't had a chance to see The Biggest Little Farm yet, but, in the trailer, that's what they used.

  • Granny Marie
    Granny Marie Posts: 53 ✭✭✭

    Thank you very much for the information!

  • judsoncarroll4
    judsoncarroll4 Posts: 5,490 admin

    Hmm... I drink a lot of beer... not dead yet, and I eat snails and good garden veggies like slugs.... well, at least I'm not sluggish!

  • JodieDownUnder
    JodieDownUnder Posts: 1,483 admin

    @judsoncarroll4 I will have a crack at most things but eating slugs from my garden is not one. You must have a cast iron stomach!😉

    @Tave sorry no ducks. I to love a beer, Stella Artois is my fav. I'm not sure what the drinking etiquette in your neck of the woods is but here, if you turn up at someone's place with alcohol and there is some leftover, you don't take it with you. Sometimes that can be a great score for the host and sometimes not so great. I used beer I don't drink to lure the slugs, they sure got interested.😃

    @tomandcara it has to be the aroma and not the alcohol as I used zero alcohol beer, one way to get rid of it!

    @NarjissMomOf3 I use organic practices, so snail & slug pellets are out. Or I hand pick them off but at the moment there are so many.

    @Granny Marie pleasure to share and welcome to the forum. I hope you find it fun, useful and interesting.

  • judsoncarroll4
    judsoncarroll4 Posts: 5,490 admin
    edited October 2020

    No, don't eat slugs, eat snails! Snails are wonderful food, especially with a good, dark beer... I'm not eating a slug! I meant that since slugs eat snails and veggies and like beer, we share common tastes.... not sure what that says about me.

  • JodieDownUnder
    JodieDownUnder Posts: 1,483 admin

    @judsoncarroll4 I can't do snails. You eat them and I'll sip the dark beer!

  • judsoncarroll4
    judsoncarroll4 Posts: 5,490 admin

    Try them Belgian style once, and I bet you'll change your mind. They make a wonderful soup of snails, first having purged them of the slime with a quick boil in salt water. They leave them in the shell, and cook them in a rich broth of seafood or chicken stock, wine or beer, shallots, herbs and butter. It is very similar in flavor to their famous mussels, but a simple peasant food for dipping wonderful, fresh baked bread into on a cold day.

  • tomandcara
    tomandcara Posts: 712 ✭✭✭✭

    @judsoncarroll4 Belgian Style snails sounds delicious. My children had texture issues with certain foods, it doesn't "feel right" as well as I think everyone has some psychological issues about different foods. Then there is the familiarity aspect of food. When my wife cooks something new she will ask me what I think. It is not uncommon for me to say I think I will like this better tomorrow.

  • judsoncarroll4
    judsoncarroll4 Posts: 5,490 admin

    That is a really good strategy! It is also often true, as many dishes improve with time and re-heating. Are you equally artful on "do these jeans make me look fat?"

  • tomandcara
    tomandcara Posts: 712 ✭✭✭✭

    Hahahaha!!!! @judsoncarroll4 I am so blessed in life. My wonderful wife and life companion never asks me that or any similar questions. We have lived and worked together for many years and through the decades we have grown more in love. She is my best friend.

  • jowitt.europe
    jowitt.europe Posts: 1,465 admin

    @jodienancarrow ayour question is very interesting. Why does beer attract insects? I use beer to keep wasps away from my bee hives, when they are too keen to get inside for a free helping of honey. Beer seems to be even more attractive as honey and not only for snails and wasps.

  • DurwardPless
    DurwardPless Posts: 162 ✭✭✭

    Speaking of wasp, I have been stung more than once by taking a sip from a coca cola can. The wasps climb inside and don't like being drowned when you tip the can up.

    DDP

  • kbmbillups1
    kbmbillups1 Posts: 1,390 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @jodienancarrow Earlier this summer I was putting out containers of beer every other night and they'd be filled with slugs and snails in the morning. Finally after a couple weeks I stopped finding them in my beer traps.

    I had my two raised beds covered because of the moths laying eggs on my greens. But, we had winds of up to 55 mph last night because of hurricane Zeta. We woke up at 4:30 am to scary winds blowing. When we looked out the back the cover on one bed was gone. The other was flailing around. My husband went out in the crazy wind to find the cover! Turns out the rocks and bags of dirt I'd tried to hold it down with did the job. It was all twisted around the bags of dirt. We just couldn't see it. Then, he went out in the front to retrieve our trash can that had blown down the road. All that to say this morning when I went out to spray the leaves off to remove any eggs and replace the cover I found SLUGS munching away! I picked off the ones I saw but will have to get some more beer.

    Beer is the best slug bait ever!

  • Brindy
    Brindy Posts: 212 ✭✭✭

    I have had great success using beer for pill bugs, aka rolly pollies. Not exactly sure how to spell that, but I put beer in tuna cans just buried a little so they weren't too high. Took care of the problem so fast.