i would be sad if i stepped on one....
April 10, 2011 10:36 AM   Subscribe

I find slugs adorable. But not so much in my kitchen. Is there a cheap humane way of keeping them from coming inside?

For the past few nights, I've gone into the kitchen and there has been a slug hanging out on the mat in front of the kitchen sink. We've been relocating them outside. A quick look under the sink doesn't show any more.

FTR, we rent a townhouse... and I was thinking about asking maintenance if they seal any areas in the kitchen but im afraid they'll dump some pest control around.

Any DIY methods other than removing them every night?
I heard copper works but we don't have copper randomly hanging around the house. I wouldn't know where to put it anyway.
posted by KogeLiz to Home & Garden (10 answers total)
 
Do you have a door in your kitchen that opens to the outside? We were getting slugs in our kitchen, and the culprit was the very small, almost imperceptible gap between the floor and the bottom of the door (which, by the way, was a story off the ground -- it opened onto an outdoor staircase. I guess slugs climb stairs?). We solved the slug problem by adhering a long strip of rubber (sorry, don't know the terminology) to the bottom of the door, which created a tight seal when the door was closed. No more slugs!
posted by artemisia at 10:43 AM on April 10, 2011 [1 favorite]


Have you tried putting a small saucer of fruit outside of your door? The slugs will congregate around it in a slug party. Oh, and you can use fruit that's gone bad. Slugs aren't picky.

This is a variation of the "beer saucer" trick that is mentioned in Chuck Pahliniuk's Choke. But with fruit you aren't waking up to a drunken slug massacre every morning.
posted by joechip at 11:01 AM on April 10, 2011 [3 favorites]


Slugs can't stand the smell of garlic. Over here in France, I can find garlic-scented pebbles that, when sprinkled around plants I don't want munched, do indeed prevent the slug-munchies. Maybe you could find something similar in a garden shop? It really works. I have tons of slugs due in part to a healthy compost heap, and the garlic scent keeps them away from my vegetables. (The pebbles stay effective for several months, too.)
posted by fraula at 11:20 AM on April 10, 2011 [1 favorite]


My roommate puts beer in a shallow dish to protect her garden. It works, but it kills the slugs.
posted by auto-correct at 12:16 PM on April 10, 2011


The method I use to keep slugs out of my garden is to crush up seashells and sprinkle them all over the ground. It is humane and works very well. If you don't have easy access to shells I believe places like home depot sell a crushed up shell mixture.
posted by helloknitty at 4:00 PM on April 10, 2011 [1 favorite]


Slugs will not cross a line of Borax Soap. When I was a kid we would pour it at the perimeter of the house, and never saw a slug, even in the garage, after that. The line spreads out and goes away over time, so plan to repeat it every month or so.
posted by nadise at 6:57 PM on April 10, 2011 [1 favorite]


You can buy copper tape- they won't cross it.

Obviously for any barrier to work, you need to figure out how they are getting in.
Are you on the ground floor? They might be coming in under the sink on the pipes.
posted by oneirodynia at 7:19 PM on April 10, 2011 [1 favorite]


If you do find out where to put some copper, you could try buying a couple of those copper mesh pots and pans scrubbers. Then maybe cut it into pieces and put it where it needs to be. Or another thought, maybe a piece of copper tubing or pipe might help. Sand lightly with sandpaper first though. Some garden centers sell copper mesh strips to keep slugs and snails out of gardens. Sorry I can't be of more help.
posted by Taurid at 9:21 PM on April 10, 2011


Find out where they're coming in first. You'll know which access points to block off then, and whether there's a pleasant damp spot like a leaky pipe in your house at which they're congregating.
posted by nicebookrack at 10:24 PM on April 10, 2011 [1 favorite]


When we had them coming in under the back door, a line of salt across the door jamb seemed to work.
In the meantime, be grateful they're on the mat. I have been jolted fully awake on more than one morning by stepping barefoot onto a slug that I didn't see on our dark-tiled kitchen floor. Yuck.
posted by une_heure_pleine at 3:47 AM on April 11, 2011


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