How to Catch Slugs

Today is a cool, bright-cloudy day after days of rain. Everything is damp. It is ideal slug weather. Usually they lay low during the day, so as not to get fried by the sun. But today is cool and cloudy enough for them to be out and about. My husband lifted the plastic tarpaulin he had used to shelter one of my garden beds during the recent cold snap, which was left out to dry on the unplanted end of the bed, and noticed a few slugs underneath after church today. I noticed that I had a few less lettuce seedlings. I decided to go slug hunting after lunch.

Materials needed:

Tarp that has been resting on one end of the garden bed for a few days, preferably very wet with bits of mud on it

a jar or bottle with an alcoholic liquid in it (beer works), with a lid

one not-so-squeamish person

Procedure:

1. Use about 1/4 cup of liquid, or less. You may need to use the rest of the beer to strengthen your nerve for this activity, if you are squeamish. I do not drink alcohol, but was happy to find a good use for cheap beer. The purchase, if done wisely, can support the local economy.

2. Examine the tarp closely for slugs. Some may be dark brown. Others will be light tan or gray with brown lines on them. They may be only a few millimeters, or up to a few centimeters long, and they round up when frightened.

3. Pick off the slugs (scooping with a dead leaf can be effective if you do not want to touch them), and drop them in the liquid. They will die quickly. And if you like beer, you can think of them as dying happily.

I used beer in small containers placed outside overnight in problem areas as slug bait last year, and caught quite a few, but not nearly as many as I did today. Discard the liquid as you deem appropriate, by tossing the container, composting the slimy devils, or whatever you choose to do. It will be nasty.