Slugs slugs slugs slugs

[happygardening]

I live next to the river and am plagued with slugs, hairy one black, ones brown ones, some the size of pythons. At night they decimate my plants or climbs up the French windows. I also have hundreds of frogs/toads of all sizes, slow worms but the slugs are longer than they are, the odd grass snake and about 15 types of birds who I feed and who are currently eating me out of house and home!
I am desperate to get rid of the revolting things but do not wish to kill of the rest of the wild life in my garden. People talk about beer traps but I'd need millions! Any further suggestions.

The tub of death!
Take an empty margarine tub and pick up slugs. Once it is full, elastic band the lid on and leave, ideally in hot sunlight, for about a week. DO NOT open the lid to see how they are doing, they will have partially dissolved into their own slime, and will smell of death.
Bin the tub at your earliest convenience.
Alternatively, you can get nematode worms that are slug parasites, and kill slugs but not other wildlife.

I've submerged old jam jars and filled them with beer.
I am truly amazed at how many slugs have fallen in. They must be attracted to the smell of the beer. It's full of them.

What's making me feel sick is how to empty it.

Will be doing it again and freshening the beer. Dh thinks it's an awful waste.

I second drowning the little blighters in beer. It works really well. Next doors cat makes light work of grass snakes.

Growing Success slug pellets, suitable for organic gardening IIRC. They are the biz.

Yes, ferric phosphate slug pellets are the ones to get. Not metaldehyde which is really bad for wildlife. My slugs have disappeared since I put some down last week (they don't seem to work as well on snails, though).

Wonderful suggestions many thanks! Surely nothing is more revolting than slugs when you pick them up all that slime sticks to your fingers erhh! Last night I had twenty shimmering up my French Windows sometimes thery're a long as pencils, the sort of hairy fat ones realy give me the creeps. In the late summer some develop the same markings as the slow worms brown with blue spots I begin to wonder if they're evolving in my garden into a new sub species of slug. Its like something out of a horror movie!

I used to be squeamish about slugs, now I just wear gloves to pick them

I thought I was getting over my fear disgust of slugs and have been using my gloved hand to pick them up BUT we do not thank god have big hair 20cm long ones.

happygardeing I salute you.

When you accidently stand on them oh its revolting. The hairy ones are only about 2-3 incjes long but sort of fat and thick. Its the ones that look like slow worms and of similar size that dont appear to half way through the summer that are the longest! I'm told it because we live by the river I dont know if this is true?