h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Ugh, Bossel! Slugs! Really..
But, did you know that slugs are very fond of beer? When I was little we had a strawberry patch in our garden. Slugs are very fond of, not just the strawberries, but the whole plant. It seems like the only thing they like better is a saucerfull of beer! We used to set out some deep dishes of beer on the edge of the patch at night, and in the morning the dishes would be full of sluggish (!), drunk and halfdrowned slugs! Looking closely, we could see their little mouths guzzling down the beer as they slowly turned on their side, totally smashed! A bit cruel perhaps, but it kept them off the strawberries!

The thing with that is that attracts them, so they come from miles around (well feet anyway) and those left after the eat the . What you need is bare wire and a car battery.
That'll discourage the B****ds.

True, but here in the rainforest of the Pacific Northwest we know our slugs, and beer is the best. The secret it to provide enough that they all drown, so you need a moderately deep and wide container. Something that is a few inches high but will take 2 or 3 bottles of beer is good. My grandmother uses a cut off plastic barrel bottom that has the advantage of sides that curl in a little, keeping the little beggers in. The only disadvantage is the same rain that keeps them happy. If the beer is watered down or overflowing it doesn't work. A little tin roof over the top helps that problem. Incidentally the drowned slugs make great compost (as do the broken egg shells you should put around your more sensitive plants to discourage both slugs and snails).

Thanks,
Id never thought about the compostability of slugs. Maybe ill try drowning them after all. I seem to be finding them in my fish pond every morning (white ? why do they go white ?) so providing them with beer instead to drown in probibly wont cost me too many karma points..

i can't think of many ways better to go than drowning in beer<!> I have no idea why they turn white, perhaps it's a leeching (sorry) of the colour.