I Think My Slugs and Snails Used to Work for NASA

[Artisan]

I seem to have very intelligent Slugs and Snails. I covered all my Brassicas with Butterfly nets. No I did not make frames to put the nets over I simply laid the nets over the newly planted plants leaving enough loose netting over their tops to allow for the plants to grow. What I didn’t allow for was my community of Slugs and Snail treating the nets as an Army assault course and climbing over them. These little devils are super intelligent and as I said in my title above had possibly previously worked for NASA as guidance system engineers or something. What they are doing is ignoring the slug pellets I put around the base of the plants but climbing the nets and eating the leaves from above through the netting. How cleaver is that I asked myself! When they have finished gorging themselves on my Brassica they probably abseil back down the nets to make their escape. Next year I will invest in frames to put the nets over. I’d like to see these super molluscs trying again oh yes so I would! Three things I hope would be achieved. 1) They would not be able to eat my prized plants because the nets would be well clear of the leaves 2) By the time they got to the top of the frame work they would be so knackered they would not have the energy to eat anything and 3) they would probably all be suffering from Vertigo!!


Don’t you just love Slugs and Snails? Not!

[Penellype]

They do tend to use nets as a way to get at foliage. I find anything that touches the netting gets chewed.

[lottie dolly]

They also come up the soil inside said netting,are very good climbers,then hide under leaves ext untill the next munch time,also the cabbage whites will sit on the top and lay eggs,no need to invest as such with frames,see if you can get some pallets to strip,if you got an electric saw,it can be made into narrower strips,what i have tried this year is,cut wood,say 3ft x 2,and a bit the width of your bed,join together to form a tunnel,nail the upright to the wood sides of the bed,leave a gap of aprox 2.5/3 feet between,place nett over the top,straighten out,fold around the outside and secure bottom,i have tried variouse ways,and much prefer this way,the frame cane be left where it is and use without the net when growing a different crop,i just want some free time to do all my beds,maybe next year.

[craftymarie]

Never underestimate how clever slugs and snails are when it comes to eatIng their favourite foods

I thought I'd cracked it when I stood the legs of my lettuce planter in pots filled with water. The slugs brigade could not get past that one as they can't swim and it was well away from the wall. One clever slug worked out that all he needed to do was climb up my fatsia japonica and travel down a nearby leaf stem to tip it down so it then touched the top of the planter. Slug got in and ate my lettuce.

I think they have super brains when it comes to food. Same as squirrels, rodents and many birds who also are very clever at working out how to get to food.