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November 4, 2009 at 5:08 pm #592891
chinookParticipantDuring the past few months, we have been inundated with a large number of snails that enjoy congregating on the steps from the sidewalk up to our house, especially on damp nights after dark. They are lovely to look at and aren’t doing damage to anything in our front yard – there’s actually nothing in the yard I enjoy as much as the snails. The problem is it’s almost impossible to travel up or down our steps after dark without crunching a snail or 2 under foot. The only information I can find about ‘discouraging’ snails involves truly inhumane extermination methods. I don’t want to kill them, I just don’t want to step on them. Any ideas for keeping them off the concrete without murdering them?
November 4, 2009 at 5:21 pm #681628
KBearParticipantPerhaps some type of edging around the sidewalk? Like a very low fence? Or you could take the Greg Nickels approach and ban them from the sidewalk. (Be sure to put up a “No Snails” sign, too.)
November 4, 2009 at 5:41 pm #681629
austinMemberI think Mcclendon’s has copper barrier tape for snails and slugs. Making a path around your walk should deter some of them. Additionally you could try baiting them away from the path with an upside down half grapefruit shell, they’re attracted to those and might show less interest in your now copper bordered walkway if they have something other fun to go after.
November 4, 2009 at 6:48 pm #681630
dawsonctParticipantGet over it and KILL THEM!! They are an invasive species which has arrived in our area only over the last decade or so. Think of them as slugs with shells if you have trouble seeing them as something “icky.” They are very damaging to the vegetable gardens your neighbors are planting and need to be suppressed. They’ve gained a beach-head and will probably be impossible to eradicate, but they don’t need any help multiplying.
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Slugs and snails are attracted to coffee grounds, which are good for the dirt, and the caffeine kills them. Then their little bodies will decompose and nourish the plants they were going to chew on. Justice!
November 4, 2009 at 7:25 pm #681631
austinMemberChickens will also do their share to cut down on the population.
November 4, 2009 at 7:26 pm #681632
ws4everMemberThanks for the tip re coffee ground use in the garden. Starbucks puts their spent coffee grounds in bags which people can take home.
November 4, 2009 at 10:06 pm #681633
herongrrrlParticipantBeer traps work for snails as well as they do for slugs, since snails *are* essentially slugs with shells. We used to live in a house near the ferry dock that had a terrible snail and slug problem in the yard. We solved the problem by putting out beer traps and by “picking” the snails morning and evening and giving them a final bath in a bucket of (cheap, nasty) beer.
November 5, 2009 at 7:26 pm #681634
dawsonctParticipantI hear Trader Joe’s has a TJ’s brand beer that would qualify in the “cheap and nasty” department.
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