Yet another wildlife story.
Moving from SoCal, my big "yard fears" were: black widow spiders, scorpions, and cholla spines. Most of these can be avoided or taken care of pretty easily.
Welcome to North Carolina-- it's SLUG COUNTRY!
I had, repeat, HAD some beatuiful hosta plants in my front garden. Now, they're the tail-end of a slug salad bar. I kept my windows open to catch the lovely cool breeze coming in off the river and barf!, two slugs crawled into my windows by squirming and sliming their way under my crappy government window screens. Eeeeew!
I tried to "relocate" the slugs by picking them up (damn, they're huge and slimy!) and relocating them across the street in a wooded area. Sort of a 'Sandals' for slugs. Apparently, the slugs took the party bus back across the street and regrouped at my mondo grass. So much for the kinder, more humane way of slug removal. Bastards.
I called my NC connections, AirportMan and XCircMan, and asked for HELP! They suggested beer in a cup set down into the lawn to attract/drown the slugs. It did work (kisses and hugs) but unfortunately, the base mower men who mow our lawns chewed the hell out of my buried beer cups and spat chunks of plastic party cups everywhere. Which I then had to pick up. Some slugs did die in the beer battle, but not enough. I kept noticing slime tracks on my siding and my first-floor windows. Ewwww!
It was time to get tough with slug bait. I put a minimal amount out last night and hoped it would work. MAN DID IT EVER! It was like the Battle of Bull Run for slugs. Little puffy corpses everywhere. There literally must be 50 or 60 of them all around the base of the house.
No, I have NOT picked them up, yet. I plan on paying Thing1 .01/slug to collect them for me. He will think he's making a fortune and I will avoid having to go on slug corpse patrol.
What's next? A plague of frogs? (Shhhh. Pretend I didn't say anything...)
Are there any local plagues at YOUR HOUSE? Got any slug suggestions?
2 comments:
I am spider central. They weave their webs all over my porch. I also have slug plant problems, but they stay outside. I've not tried slug bait. Good luck with your pay per slug scheme! :)
Sphinx Moth Larvae? How did I manage to miss out on that plague while living in the HiD?
Right now, the Cahuillas are eating beer battered onion rings and $12 prime rib dinners at their casino. The Sphinx Moth Larvae are only eaten by tourists now...
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