SLUGS..

[Dodgy69]

HTF.. do you stop these slimey, horrible, good for nothing creatures from making home underneath the lid of my water butt. Gangs of them, various sizes just chilling out.

[KungFooBob]

<squints>

Yeah, I was never a big fan of Madness either.

[Yambo]

Slug pellets or salt.

[cheb]

Ducks love eating slugs. Buy some ducks and feed them every morning with dew fresh slugs.

[Dodgy69]

Also...they must be pretty acrobatic. It's on the garage. They must crawl up the garage wall, into gutter, then slide down the gutter downpipe, then negotiate the collection trap ?, then the smaller bendy pipe, into the butt hole, and onto the lid.

When I take lid off, some fall in. Shame...but they have blocked tap in the past and I've needed to prick them out with wire.

Salt n stuff sounds right but where do your put it so it doesn't just wash away.

[Count Steer]

I get them in mine. There's just the tiniest gap where the pipe from the greenhouse gutter goes in. Sometimes I find one that's been in the water for a while...eeeuww. I just chuck them over the hedge or put them in the garden recycling bin. I have found them in the house gutters when clearing leaves too. I kind of gave up the battle really and convinced myself that they must serve some purpose in a balanced ecosystem.

[Mr. Dazzle]

I never considered it until just now, but I suppose a slug can squeeze through a tiny gap.

[Count Steer]

I never considered it until just now, but I suppose a slug can squeeze through a tiny gap.

Yup. Far tinier than I imagined.

[mangocrazy]

Beer traps.

The downsides are - a) it's a waste of beer, b) the local slugs invite the neighbourhood slugs round for a party, so you wind up with more slugs.

But hopefully, dead ones floating upside down in beer.

[ChrisW]

I never considered it until just now, but I suppose a slug can squeeze through a tiny gap.

They'll get thought the slit a razor blade leaves....

If you're feeling generous you could try a beer trap - let them die happy.

[Wossname]

I've found them in various places on the car bodywork, which has puzzled me. I usually drive faster than they run. I suppose they could climb up tyres and make their slimy way across suspension bits etc, but it seems a bit random, and, well, why would you, IYSWIM? If you were a slug?

Beats that Mr Gates as an object of hatred, tho....

[derek badger]

Copper tape or nematodes

[DefTrap]

My missus collects the snails from their sneaky hiding places (we had effing thousands) and repatriates them to the cemetery down the road. Weeks later we're down to manageable numbers rather than a tsunami.

As for stopping them getting to plants, coffee grounds on the soil works a bit (or at least makes me feel like I'm trying) similarly copper tape

[Felix]

Keep the lid off

[dern]

Why are you looking in your water butt? I installed mine about 20 years ago and I've never looked it in.

[Count Steer]

Why are you looking in your water butt? I installed mine about 20 years ago and I've never looked it in.

Dunno about the OP but I use a butt pump+hose with mine (I've got 9* ) so the lids have to come off routinely.

* some collect, some store.

[Greenman]

HTF.. do you stop these slimey, horrible, good for nothing creatures from making home underneath the lid of my water butt. Gangs of them, various sizes just chilling out.

Gangsta Slugs ey.

Have you tried calling the police?

[Dodgy69]

Why are you looking in your water butt? I installed mine about 20 years ago and I've never looked it in.

Have a look...apparently if left uninterrupted for long periods in water butt's, they can grow up to 12 inches long.

[Dodgy69]

Monster Slugs...could be a TV series.

[gremlin]

Please, if you're gonna use pellets, hedgehog-safe ones.

And if you have slugs, you have a ready-source of lip balm.