Spiders and other phobias.

Not wishing to hijack the OP's thread, but on the subject of bats you might be interested to know that where the M4 passes through rural areas in south and west Wales, a number of artificial "caves" were built under it with rough concrete walls to encourage bats to roost there.

The project was successful and if you travel along the M4 particularly around Kenfig at dusk you will often see bats swirling around.

I always feel sorry for slugs because they are so ugly and slimey but vulnerable because they don't have a shell.

I have no horror of any living creature except spiders (arggggg).

I used to catch them on a feather duster and then throw the duster through the window - retrieving it hours later when hopefully the above thing had wandered off.

SORRY FOR SLUGS !!!!!!!! can I send you mine Falconbird ? PM me your address and I will send a crate over.

I used to be scared of spiders as a child, but after learning about them at school began to take more interest in their behaviour. The best thing about them is that their webs trap mosquitoes. Which are the insects I fear most - I hate them. They always seem to home in on me, especially at night, you can hear that unmistakable buzz getting louder and louder
So now our ceilings are garlanded with cobwebs.

I put spiders outside as well, I am sure they plot the best way to get in again.
I rescue bees that come into the conservatory, put them on a flower outside but ants, flies and wasps get short shrift.

Mozzies love me too.

Thanks for the kind offer Pompa but I will have to DECLINE the crate of slugs. Surely you don't have enough of them to fill a crate

I have rescued slugs in the early morning because if they get caught in the sun they dry out - poor creatures.

I admit spiders do have a use in the vast scheme of things and I appreciate that but I want them to do whatever useful things they do as far away from me as possible.

We are overrun with huge Spanish slugs, I reckon I trap/kill 50 or so every morning.

You're lucky, pompa, apparently it's common to get 4,000 a month in some gardens!

Spanish slug invasion

We have so many baby ones, I fear that we could be heading that way. beer traps work quite well, going to ask the pub tonight, what they do with the slops.

I googled Spanish slugs and they do look fairly horrible.

When I had a tortoise I had no problem with slugs. Tortoises contrary to popular opinion aren't veggies but eat slugs and insects. Mine used to stalk about trying to catch woodlice and often succeeded.

Buy a tortoise and all your slug worries will be over. They quickly dispatch slugs with one bite - more humane that other methods. I think they also eat snails but I've no proof about that.

It would have to be a pretty hungry tortoise to get through 4,000 slugs a month, Falconbird!

Ana agreed you would have to buy several at least 10 I think - that is a lot of slugs. Is that an unusual number it does seem like a lot are they on the increase in your area?

Oh God, I hope our kitchen invading slugs don't reach 4000 a month

It was from the link I posted at 17.25 Falconbird. I hadn't heard of Spanish slugs before so I googled them.

I don't mind spiders or any insect type of animal, I even like bats and mice. BUT I have an absolute horror of SNAKES.......... Ooooooo arrrrrrrrh.
I can hardly type the word!
I went into our local Pets at Home to stock up on cat food, as I walked in my attention was drawn to a man sitting in a corner by the door, I had to look twice........ He was holding a MASIVE yellow type of snake. My heart leapt in my chest and I ran as fast as my legs would carry me out of the shop, across the car park (which was busy with cars coming and going) jumped into my car, locking the door needless to say. I was shaking, sweating and my heart was pounding.
If by chance I am reading a paper and there is a picture Of said creature I can no longer continue.
Why should this phobia be so strong and disabling at the time of such an encounter? I do sympathy so much with the arachnophobic people as we are likely to meet insects on a regular basis. At least I can hopefully avoid the thing that creates my horrid phobia. Any suggestions?

And I thought tortoises were vegetarian

DD's arachnophobia is every bit as bad as your horror of ........ Thistledoo, so I do sympathise.

You need a moat AshTree!

I thought tortoises were vegetarian until one day years ago we were having a bar b cue and the tortoise came along and munched greedily on a beefburger. My cousin also reported his tortoise eating a dead shrew. They are foragers by nature and will basically eat anything they can find.

You need a hedgehog, Falconbird
Or a few families of hedgehogs!

More like a porcupine or two!

Great idea about the hedgehog falcon. I didn't know they're diet included slugs. I've got plenty (slugs and snails that is, although this year not so many, as its not been so wet). If I wasn't planning on moving, I would seriously consider a hedgehog.

Oops! their diet. Silly tablet predictive text!!!!!!

I think they prefer snails (must be like a crunchie bar!)

Hedgehog rescue groups often provide hedgehogs to people.

Hi nannieroz A hedgehog would probably be just as good as a tortoise but I don't have a garden now so I don't have to worry.

I have a sort of communal car park garden area looked after by gardeners but today I pulled out some weeds, it felt good.

Spiders get everywhere. I had to have the plumbing replaced in a shower unit today and there were spiders under the shower floor - I can't stand them - luckily they were only small ones and ran away.

They say a person is always a few feet away from a spider - arrrrragh.

I did mean a tortoise falcon. Must have been having a "senior moment"
I don't care much for any creepy crawlies, even less so now that I have to deal with them myself. I don't kill them though, I catch them and throw them outside.

In East Anglia numbers n the order of 4000 Spanish sligs have been reported, Apparently they are bitter to taste (not sure who tried) and have no natural predators. They not only eat veg they will eat mice, other slugs, faeces etc. They grow up to 6 inches long.
www.slugwatch.co.uk/?page_id=174

I humanly kill them, with a brick, very quick, if a little messy. The biggest I have found was about 5" long and as thick as my thumb.