[Smudge]

I forgot to stress this a micro brewery.
Never the same pint twice!

[WG.]

Well any more than two pints of this stuff and you will know about it the next day!

I forgot to stress this a micro brewery.
Never the same pint twice!

Sounding better by the minute ...

[Salkeela]

Its good fun to dab a bit of paint on a couple and see how long it takes them to return home. You could try a sweepstake.....

Reminds me of a story.  

I studied periwinkles - Littorina littorea to be exact while at Uni.  The object of one exercise was to see how far these little shore snails moved with each tide.  So I mapped all the stones in an area and painted numbers on the snails and then let them all go.

They were then re-collected - all their measurements taken etc.  Well, of course, I was supposed to return them to the exact spot on the shore that they came from at the end of the day, but I was running late on a Friday afternoon.... so I tipped them over the edge of the pier as I jumped on the ferry home..

I was caught on however..... locals told me they were "playing periwinkle bingo all weekend" as the little monsters crept up the pier walls!  :oops:    

[SouP]

This is probably a really stupid question, but how exactly do you kill snails?
We are having the same problem, the little b***ers, with their cousins the slugs have eaten every baby cabbage, cauli and sprout in the garden. :twisted:
We tried drowning them in a bucket of water, and while it seems to work eventually with the slugs, the snails seem to be able to survive for ages!
Even the pubs don't seem to work with ours, they drink their fill then clamber out again! :roll:
We're getting half a carrier bag a night at the moment, and are tying them up in the bags and every week putting them in the bin to be taken away with the rubbish!
Any suggestions on a quick way to despatch 'em?
Thanks in advance
SouP

[WG.]

This is probably a really stupid question, but how exactly do you kill snails?

A bucket of salty water should do it (by osmosis).  Use another bucket on top to hold them under.  Might take a day or two due to the protection they get from their shells.

Unless, of course, you fancy eating them, or sending them to loubylou.  I'd try them myself except I'd be worried that they'd make me rude and sweary like Mr Ramsay  ...

Do Eat them!!! Gordon Ramsay did!!


http://www.channel4.com/life/microsites/F/fword/snails.html

"Remember, before you eat your garden snails they have to be purged of any toxins. For the first two days, leave the snails in a container without any food and wash them regularly with clean water. On day three, give them a carrot and leave them for a couple of days until you see that their droppings have turned orange. Finally, wash them again and place them in the fridge in a sealed container - this will send them into a deep sleep. From here they are ready to be cooked."

Let us know if you do it.. I would have a go if I had collected that many!

[SouP]

Thanks WG, am thinking maybe I didn't put enough salt in the bucket last time - they were still moving after 5 days!
So, assuming I manage to kill them, what do I do with the bodies?
Is it OK to pour their liquified remains onto the compost heap?
Sorry I'm being so dim, but never had to commit mass murder before!

[WG.]

It'll be a nasty smelly mess.  Too salty for the compost heap.  I suggest you bury it.

Does anyone put salt on their asparagus or onion beds?  I seem to recall reading summat about that years ago.  Don't take my word for it though - have a Google around before tipping salt on any productive area.

[Salkeela]

This is probably a really stupid question, but how exactly do you kill snails?SouP

Stamp on them?  It's quick. Let the birds eat the mess.

[WG.]

This is probably a really stupid question, but how exactly do you kill snails?SouP

Stamp on them?  It's quick. Let the birds eat the mess.

I did think of that but "half a carrier bag a night" would require a strong stomach

[flowerlady]

rings of clinker ... ashes - if it doesn't rain ... coffee grounds ... basically anything that will give them grief and increase oversliming which will top them !  :twisted:

[SouP]

Thanks guys, hopefully at the rate we're killing them, they will soon be extinct
Not sure my stomach is strong enough for wholesale stomping, but if they eat any more of my plants I shall be angry enough to dance on their horrid crunchy little bodies!
You're not kidding about the smell WG, first attempt at drowning took a week - took the lid off and eewww! I don't do being 'pink and girly' very often but had to get OH to come and take it away  :oops:

[sausage]

Slugs are the bane of my life! I need to toughen up and actually kill them!
Leave a mound of the * to scare the others!

Chop off their heads and suspend them on a toothpick around your garden.

[Salkeela]

This is probably a really stupid question, but how exactly do you kill snails?SouP

Stamp on them?  It's quick. Let the birds eat the mess.

I did think of that but "half a carrier bag a night" would require a strong stomach

I disagree.... I'm much happier with this than leaving them in a bucket knowing the poor things would take 2 days to peg it.  And this way there is no smell.  Either leave it for the birds or shovel the remains up & bury them.

Admittedly when I first collected 2 buckets worth I took them a couple of miles up the road and ditched them in a farmer's field!  

[mkhenry]

There are plants that slugs and snails do not like and will avoid. If you want to protect a row of plants then try growing,sage (Salvia Officinalis) and scalet sage(Salvia Splendens) even hyssop and thyme will give you some protection. They will avoid these plants and move on to others. Also if you put down any big leaves ie.rhubarb in between the rows next morning you can pick up all the hiding snails

[Trillium]

I stomp on my snails, no messing about here. Slugs get the Secatur Slice or the Clipper Clip and bodies left in place as warning to others. Works a treat for tomato horn worms which won't go up stems where bodies of comrades hang. Seems they can't stand the smell of their own kind, and I suspect slugs are the same. Once had a recipe for bug repellent which included throwing a bunch into the whizzer for the exact same reason. Naturally, I bought a cheap whizzer at the yard sales for that purpose.