Yuck, yuck, yuck!!
I honestly can’t think of anything more disgusting than standing on a slug with bare feet in the middle of the night.Actually picking one up to get rid of it also gives me the creeps.
For the last month or so there have been slug trails on the lounge floor, on the couch, stairs, my flip-flops and even on the babies car seat. As we have been up quite late the last few nights, we have spotted the little bugger and it really does appear to be the same one. I am too much of a wuss to pick it up and chuck it out but husband has once or twice. But the persistent, slimy, snail without a shell just keeps coming back.
It really could be the same one as slugs leave their own individual scent trail so they can find their way home.
Apparently one of the reasons slugs may venture into the house (particularly an old house) is because they are likely to be cool, dark and moist so if you have a damp problem that could be one reason.
Another is pet food. Slugs have a great sense of smell so will make a beeline for it especially if it’s a rainy night. Or they could be after some plants you have placed artfully in your living space.
Well, we don’t have any animals, I haven’t seen them anywhere near the window sill which is where I have 2 herb pots and as far as I’m aware we don’t have a damp problem.
I do know however that the front door does not fit very well at all and because slugs have no bones, they can stretch up to 20 times their normal length which enables them to squeeze through the tiniest gaps.
These facts lead me to deduce that the poor thing just wants to be cooled down after the lovely warm weather we have been having lately. But that doesn’t really make sense as only 5% of the slug population is above ground at any one time.
The rest is apparently underground doing things that slugs do like eating seedlings, laying eggs, and feeding on roots and seed sprouts. I would have thought that would be much more appealing than my house.
Anyway, it cannot stay.
I found quite a few interesting suggestions…
How to get rid of slugs in the house:
- Laying down a salt path – this actually causes the slugs to dry out and seems extremely cruel, uncomfortable and messy so I won’t try this one
- Using a copper barrier tape
across door thresholds, around pots etc – apparently copper reacts with slug slime and disturbs their nervous system, basically giving them an electric shock (at least they don’t die I guess)
- Slug pellets/bait
– always go for the newer type bait based on iron phosphate which is only toxic to snails and slugs, not the old style baits based on a chemical called metaldehyde which is dangerous for pets, wildlife and children. These also kill the slug after a few days so a bit of a slow process poor things
-
Eggshell experiment. The ones in the eggshell were even more appealing than the ones that weren’t. Crushed up eggshells – a common suggestion which apparently is totally useless and untrue as this picture from an experiment shows. The snails actually were attracted to the shells with some egg residue on them and the sharpness of the shells on their bellies was no bother. Kind of glad this one doesn’t work as eggshells around the house may be even more disturbing than the slug trails!
- Beer – by far the most common suggestion that appears to have good results is to use a beer trap. Here is a great description of how to make a trap. Thinking about it now I remember this is what my dad used and it definitely did work. Gross but the whole lot can go on the compost bin every few days or be fed to chickens (Pims for lucky chickens!!)
Unbelievably, in my trawl on the internet this morning for information about how to get rid of slugs and why they want to party in my house, I found not one but two brilliantly informative websites totally dedicated to slugs!
”Slug off!” has some truly bizarre facts about slugs. My favourite one is that a slug has approximately 27 000 teeth which is more than a shark and that, like sharks, they routinely lose and replace their teeth.
‘All About Slugs’ even has Slugapalooza – a page totally dedicated to poetry and stories about slugs for a totally random 5 minutes of your life!
”Time sometimes flies like a bird, sometimes crawls like a snail; but a man is happiest when he does not even notice whether it passes swiftly or slowly” – Ivan Turgenev
How do you cope with unwanted slugs in your garden and home? I’d especially like to know if you’ve ever fed your chickens slugs that have been soaked in beer??
Take care & have a happy day! xx
P.S. This post contains affiliate links which means that if you buy something through my link, Gumby Legacy gets a tiny commission on it. Doesn’t cost you any extra & helps us help others so much appreciated!
I have spent the past hour trying to find out how to deal with my slug problem and have wound up giggling uncontrollably and laughing out loud at some of the posts.
Now I’m going to look for more anti-drug posts to read.
Oh wow! Ty for the tips! The salt one mind blowing. I put salt on two of the slugs and almost instantly died! (I have slugs in bathroom EVERY single day for the past half year or so)
I have new windows,doors,and floors. The wind can’t get in but the slugs do.
Ah no Chuck!! that is very frustrating!
I found a snail sleeping on my car windshield while I was driving. I decided to rehabilitate it, and so far it has eaten a good part of a Persian cucumber. I plan to release it back into a plant outside soon..
Lol Christian! How bizarre it was on your car windshield! Mkaes me think of a potential kids movie – slug is tired of being slow so decides to speed things up with a joy ride on your car!!! Hope he rehabilitated to the wild well!!
Oh wow! Ty for the tips! The salt one mind blowing. I put salt on two of the slugs and almost instantly died! (I have slugs in bathroom EVERY single day for the past half year or so)
I have so many of them here. My house was only built maybe 11 years ago but I had so many problems with the flooring on the ground floor including damp so slugs have been a constant problem. I dislike them so much and never get used to finding them lurking. Also as a vegetable gardener I find them often lurking under plants or inside my cabbage leaves. Not long ago I found one on my marigold heads. I rarely kill them though. Slugs come in many types and some are actually beneficial as they eat decaying matter and some even eat other slugs. I have a dust pan and brush and I carefully sweep them onto the pan and try not damage them and put them back outside and put salt at the door. They wont cross salt. On my allotment I move the slugs or snails that I find to my compost pile. Weird considering how physically sick they make me feel. Planning to seal all around the base of the downstairs with some sort of silicon though to plug up tiny spaces
That’s very kind of you! Hope the silicon sealing works xx
Great comments! I use salt to kill them off. Hate them. Stood on one with bare feet this morning yuk!
I have tiny black thin slugs that come in.blocked evething up, on ly I think when we have rain. outside on pots of flowers eggshells DO work, only if you put in oven to dry out the white of it.,just save and put in bottom of oven when cooking. then crush them with pototo masher. worked for me for years. saves my bedding plants.
Great tips thank you!
Last night I found the second slug in my bathroom, inside the waste basket.
A few weeks ago I found one o the edge of the shower… and I was like ?!?! What?!? Anyway I grabbed it with a little peace of paper and brought it out to the garden.
I did the same with the second one which by the way I beleive may be the same one.
Well that was very kindly dealt with! X
I’ve had them for years they are always in pairs some up to 4 inches of 100cm. One just crawled on my toe it was so cold like water or something. I have a lot of nerve problems so thinking wtf is it now because I know there is no water under my desk I was very surprised to find a nice juicy 3 inch slug. It was not moving but by the time I got back with some tp it had moved a foot and practically shoved its entire body into a gap in the wall looking for a way out.
Ah that sounds horrible Billy!!!!
I have just removed the slugs no.2 and no.3 from the cat food bowl by placing a glass over them. Once they crawl up, it’s easier to carry them to the garden.
But I need to know how to deter them in the first place…
I think mine come from under the sink So I toss a little salt,this has deterred
I found out how ingenious slugs are. Mine were coming in via the overflow pipe at the top of the kitchen sink. This means crawling up a vertical pipe of 1M, through the water trap under the sink and up a small pipe to the overflow.
Hi… I’m from India and right now it’s raining in full swing here…. As I didn’t have this problem till now…. I found this info very useful
We have no pets and every morning have a trail on the carpet in the front room we’re will it be hiding ?
I found 20 in my kitchen last night! So this morning I’ve literally chucked everything out!! Bleached floor and put a salt trail down to see what I come home to tonight!!
When I find the buggers I wrap then in tissue paper and send them down the loo!! Can they swim as my Mum reckons they are all coming back via the loo. Almost put my hand on one this morning! It was atop the bedside table and one was on its way up a leg. They appeared to be trying to colour themselves to the bamboo of the table.
eeww!! that’s so gross! I hope they don’t swim!! also that you got rid of them Doug! thanks for commenting xx
How cruel to put them down the toilet. I don’t want them in my home anymore than the next person, but I’m certainly not going to harm them or do something cruel (like flushing them down the toilet).
I have news for you, Doug, slugs do NOT swim, so wrapping them up and flushing them down the toilet paper is, effectively, drowning them.
They are snails they don’t have nerves and its proven they can’t feel emotion or pain
B.S. snails have nerves and can feel discomfort, I squirt acid on them at night and they curl up and fry…
I don’t care what “science” has to say, if it is a living thing then it feels. An insect may not have “emotions” but most can feel pain. Even if they don’t, does that excuse being cruel? One would argue that if it doesn’t “feel” then it isn’t cruel, yes? Is it cruel to pull the end off of a lightening bug or the legs off of other insects, because they MIGHT not feel it? Imagine drowning with or without “nerve endings”. Or, dehydrating (drying from inside out) because of salt. I would think that because they need moisture to survive that anything outside of the “norm” for them would be an awful experience, hence the reason they do anything to be near water. If a creature acts in any certain way in order to survive and anything outside of that realm is afflicted upon them, then that’s “suffering” in my opinion. Slugs try to enter my house, especially when it rains…I simply let them crawl onto the fly swatter and fling them back outside. The important part is spraying or cleaning the trail so that they don’t come back.
Useful Information..
Thank you so much
You’re welcome! thanks for stopping by x
How do you make a beer trap?
I have a very old house with a crawl space and old wooden floors. They come in and go straight towards the dog food. I noticed where they were coming in and put a little salt there. No more slugs for now!
Hope that worked! thanks for reading xx
I have lived in my current home for over four years. The home is built on a crawl space.
I’ve never even seen any bugs, save for the occasional fly, in the entire four years, that is, until tonight.
After googling a “slimey thing with antennas”, I pretty much figured that I was in the company of a slug.
Long story short, I wrapped him up in paper towels and looking like a slug mummy, out the back door he went.
Your great advice will hopefully keep him and his kin folks away.
Thank you so much
Slug mummy! love it Janis 🙂 thanks for taking the time to comment and I hope he doesn’t keep making his way back in!
The thing is yuck and Yuckiest after SALT shower
Helpful
Wow thank you for the very informative post.
I was in the garage and noticed a snail. Like you, I don’t want no party in my house.
What a funny picture of your slug resident .
Mine is also staying unfortunately but now I know a lot more about slugs. I am very appreciative of your written work.
Best,
K
P.s.was yours really necessary? Is it not TMI? Does the reader need a disclaimer?
P.p.s. I can’t wait to get lost in your blog for hours.
Xo