Slugs etc.

As I said in another post regarding herons, I have only one word -- DYNAMITE !!!!!.

Well, tjspompa, if you have ever seen the dreaded spanish/iberian slugs, Arion vulgaris and A. lusitanicus, then you will swallow your words. These horrible creatures are invasive and eat the small garden slug and its eggs, it has virtually eradicated the snails in shells. They measure over 4 inches, are reddish/orange-brown and incredibly slimy, which makes it difficult and sometimes fatal for frogs, ducks and other mammals to try and eat them. Young ducks have been known to choke to death on them.

This slug van destroy a 2 foot sunflower overnight. Beer traps invite more of these creatures from neighbours, dead slugs invite them for a "funeral" snack. Copper tape around precious plants are a deterrent.

After having encountered these revolting and destructive creatures here in Europe, I almost find the little brown garden slug "cute". Every time I find an empty shell of the common garden snail, it saddens me.

We have lots of slugs despite having a few frogs and hedgehogs. How do I encourage more frogs

Right! - I have had it! If my neighbours cat feels that it has the right to wander into my garden and crap all over the place it could surely reciprocate and develop a taste for snails and eradicate them!!

MrsJamJam, I'm sure you are right about the badgers taking frogs, we don't have any nearby, so the frogs, toads and hedgehogs are safe. I would love to attract more hedgehogs, have tried to provide winter cover, but still only get passing visitors. I guess that various grden fences etc, restrict their roaming.

If it rains those dear little molluscs will be out in droves. So far this dry spring is what slugs like least. If it turns wet the only solution is to go out after dark and murder them. A few nights of that works. As long as you don't have a huge garden. I will not reveal my weapon of choice for fear of the slugs protection league wreaking revenge.

All I can say is, they like eating other dead slugs which limits my sympathy.

The other thing that can work is a sprinkling of nyjer seed (from the bird food bin...) - when it germinates the slugs go for that instead of your pansies or whatever.

As for frogs - I just had the one lonely chap at my little pond. I went out and (illegally, I know) relocated some frog spawn from the nearest pond. Just a handful. I now have lots of fat tadpoles and hopes of frog orgies in springs to come.

Sounds wonderful in theory but after four years our pond has never seen a frog! Not because it is sterile and suburban either, we are in deepest Devon and surrounded by lovely thick hedges and lots of hiding places BUT we also have dozens of badgers around and I am sure they keep any population of frogs and hedgehogs down. Biodiversity is endlessly complicated, I think. (slugs aren't too bad, unless the weather is very damp. The last two cold winters have kept the population down).

That's the best way to garden - putting predators and pests together! I love to have frogs in my garden, but alas we get cane toads too (I'm in Queensland Australia and cane toads are a poisonous introduced pest)

I used to have snails by the dozen but they've all vanished. I'm not sure which predator did it, but I'm glad. Anything I catch goes to the chickens: there's a nasty grub that eats roots called a curl grub, it is about 2 inches long and fat. The chickens absolutely love them. I usually find some when I'm digging a new patch.