# I Need Some Flesh-Eating Slug Repellant **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 15, 2004, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-some-flesh-eating-slug-repellant/255217 "2004-07-15T04:55:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-some-flesh-eating-slug-repellant/255217/1 "2004-07-15T04:55:55Z")
No, not really, but the events of last evening rank up there with the most disgusting I have ever experienced and have nearly pushed me into trying to find the most painful way for slugs to die. It was late, the moon was shining, the wind whispering through the pines. I decided to go out and enjoy the deck on my new home. I took three steps out the back door and then _squish!_ I think people in Cambodia probably heard my shocked cry, “Eeewgh!” I had stepped on the Queen Slug-- or maybe the one who had just eaten the Queen Slug. The horrid thing was nearly the size of a boa constrictor! Okay, I’m exaggerating-- but it was still huge, and it squashed up between my toes, sending me hobbling in on my heel to hurriedly wash my offended foot. My immediate thought was to find some salt and melt the nasty things, but then my conscience got the better of me. After all, it’s not their fault that they’re slugs. I’m sure, if given a choice, they would have selected to be bipeds or even a furry quadraped instead of a slimy belly-crawler. They must have a giant slug colony under the deck. I can get under there to see, because there are skirting boards all the way around the edges of the deck. Whenever there’s a rain, they crawl up to be stepped upon by the unwary. I have a dark suspicion that they’re just trying to gross me out of existance so they can take over the whole deck: Today the Underside, Tomorrow, the Surface! Is there anything that would repell them, but not necessarily harm them? I also have a dog, so I don’t like to use any chemicals around her. Anything I used would have to be spread on the deck, or poured down between the boards-- there’s no other access. I don’t know if it helps, but I’m getting ready to paint the deck-- is there anything I can add to the paint to repel them? Thanks, Slugfoot Lissa ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-some-flesh-eating-slug-repellant/255217/2 "2004-07-15T05:10:05Z")
**Lissa** , I give thee [Snail-Away](http://www.surreyshop.co.uk/minisites/snailaway/?b_id=jzLxTNgQSjzGn4Sgj&sku=rjWgP1sa8qBQW). If you don’t want to order from the UK, and it turns out you’re ok with somthing that would kill them, then I give thee [Sluggo Slug Control](http://www.mastergardening.com/mastergardening/dee-0080.html). And if that don’t work, try a five lb. bag of Morton’s (which will most certainly \*not \*fit in with your “not necessarily harm them” caveat). ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-some-flesh-eating-slug-repellant/255217/3 "2004-07-15T05:11:38Z")
:smack: Ok, so the first link don’t seem to be working too well. Try going to: [http://www.surreyshop.co.uk/minisites/snailaway/?b\_id=jzLxTNgQSjzGn4Sgj&sku=rjWgP1sa8qBQW](http://www.surreyshop.co.uk/minisites/snailaway/?b_id=jzLxTNgQSjzGn4Sgj&sku=rjWgP1sa8qBQW) ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-some-flesh-eating-slug-repellant/255217/4 "2004-07-15T05:16:51Z")
> [@](#): > > I Need Some Flesh-Eating Slug Repellant If I had flesh-eating slugs I’d want them DEAD, not just repelled. Are you a buddhist or something? ---
**Author:** ![35340](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/8baadc/32.png) [@35340](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/35340)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-some-flesh-eating-slug-repellant/255217/5 "2004-07-15T13:06:07Z")
I don’t know if Orange Guard would do it, but it’s safe for the dog and would rid you of ants, roaches, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-some-flesh-eating-slug-repellant/255217/6 "2004-07-15T15:01:44Z")
> [@AndrewT](#): > > If I had flesh-eating slugs I’d want them DEAD, not just repelled. The title of my thread was a nod to _Harry Potter_ in which Hagrid, the groundskeeper, shops for an item of that name. > [@](#): > > Are you a buddhist or something? No, not really, but I do feel sympathy for the poor, disgusting things. They’re just trying to make a living, after all. I’d be quite put out, to say the least, if someone tried to melt _me_ as I go about my daily business. ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-some-flesh-eating-slug-repellant/255217/7 "2004-07-15T20:08:37Z")
The problem with Snail-Away is that, while I’m told it’s good for establishing a perimeter, it doesn’t do much for slugs that are already there. Also, I have to assume that a lot of them are coming up between the boards, again making a perimeter of dubious value. I think that if you don’t want to kill them, you’re going to have to pry up at least part of the deck, remove the slugs that are there, and lay down something that slugs don’t like. Here’s a list of things they don’t like:[http://www.haywardm.supanet.com/barriers.html](http://www.haywardm.supanet.com/barriers.html). ---
**Author:** ![Moe\_Mentum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@Moe\_Mentum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moe_Mentum)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-some-flesh-eating-slug-repellant/255217/8 "2004-07-15T23:55:27Z")
A common method of slug control in our neck of the woods is to fill a shallow dish with beer and leave it on the ground for them to discover. They’ll crawl into the dish and the beer will kill them. At least they die happy. ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2004, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-some-flesh-eating-slug-repellant/255217/9 "2004-07-16T00:48:20Z")
> [@Moe Mentum](#): > > A common method of slug control in our neck of the woods is to fill a shallow dish with beer and leave it on the ground for them to discover. They’ll crawl into the dish and the beer will kill them. > > At least they die happy. Reminds me of an old joke… Two brewery officials knocked on Mrs O’Malleys door… Mrs O’Malley…I’m afraid we have some bad news about your husband. He feel into the vat at the brewery and drowned. Oh No. Did he die quickly? No…he got out three times to pee. The beer works. Go out in the morning and look for their trails and place the container right there. ---
**Author:** ![Cinnamon\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@Cinnamon\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cinnamon_Girl)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2004, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-some-flesh-eating-slug-repellant/255217/10 "2004-07-16T06:26:03Z")
Ya think salt is mean… I set some aflame with a lighter and it was weird how they just stopped and kinda sizzled. They don’t smell good barbequed though, but you only gotta heat them up a bit to kill them. Then leave their bodies for all their slug friends to find and they go in search of some other less evil person’s flower beds to ravish. Worked for me. ---
**Author:** ![Cinnamon\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@Cinnamon\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cinnamon_Girl)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2004, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-some-flesh-eating-slug-repellant/255217/11 "2004-07-16T06:28:08Z")
> [@Reeder](#): > > The beer works. Go out in the morning and look for their trails and place the container right there. AND I didn’t have to waste any precious beer on those disgusting, greedy creatures. BTW, I think they actually drown in the beer. Which really isn’t that bad of a way to go. Matter of fact, wasn’t there a suicide thread in here somewhere? I think I just figured mine out. ---
**Author:** ![Kallessa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7993a0/32.png) [@Kallessa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kallessa)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2004, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-some-flesh-eating-slug-repellant/255217/12 "2004-07-16T06:43:02Z")
Slugs are our friends. Slugs are hermaphrodites: they all have male and female reproductive systems. Yep, they can mate with themselves!!! A role mode for many a lonely , um, soul. Slugs can stretch to 20 times their normal length (now where have I heard that before?) This enables them to squeeze through openings to get at food. Slugs can follow slime trails they left from the night before, they know where they’ve been, and they know how to get back. Here in the Pacific Northwest we have banana slugs which are bright yellow, grow to 8 inches, with some getting up to 18 inches! Sometimes they’re even spotted, like a banana that’s a little too ripe. And if you’re eight, and willing to pick one up, you can really freak out your sisters by bringing one into the house! Thirty-five years later, I can still gross them out just by mentioning it. See, I told you slugs were our friends. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2004, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-some-flesh-eating-slug-repellant/255217/13 "2004-07-16T10:49:29Z")
Lissa, your post gave me a great laugh. BTW have you ever heard of leaping slugs? They are found [here](http://www.belch.com/slugs/). ---
**Author:** ![badmana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@badmana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badmana)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2004, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-some-flesh-eating-slug-repellant/255217/14 "2004-07-16T16:16:47Z")
You’re going to need to set your porch on fire…it’s the only way to be sure 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Moe\_Mentum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@Moe\_Mentum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moe_Mentum)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2004, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-some-flesh-eating-slug-repellant/255217/15 "2004-07-16T21:56:01Z")
> [@Cinnamon Girl](#): > > AND I didn’t have to waste any precious beer on those disgusting, greedy creatures. Actually, with a blender and a little crushed ice you can make banana slug daiquiris, so nothing goes to waste. They slide down reeeal smooth. ---
**Author:** ![MysteryFellow63427](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e4f/32.png) [@MysteryFellow63427](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysteryFellow63427)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2004, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-some-flesh-eating-slug-repellant/255217/16 "2004-07-16T22:42:08Z")
Does anyone know what wines go well with slug? ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-some-flesh-eating-slug-repellant/255217/17 "2004-07-17T17:01:35Z")
No no no no no no! Slugs, snails, fat witchety grubs, worms. These are the things that send me screaming from the house. Lizards are fine, spiders are fine, and I can deal with the occassional cockroach. But the slimy ones…and it was between your toes! I’m so glad I haven’t eat yet today. They must die. Slowly. In great pain. Salt them, then set fire to them. Either that, or never go out on your porch again. Is there a way you can make the underside of your porch less hospitable to them? And **Kallessa** , you do know you’re going to hell, don’t you? A hot, boring, sexless hell. There’s a special place for boys who tease their sisters with slimy things. You are going straight there, my friend. No doubt about it. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-some-flesh-eating-slug-repellant/255217/18 "2004-07-17T23:44:45Z")
Heres an article about leaping slugs: Scientists are not sure what gives this slug the ability to jump great distances but some attribute the capability to fast twitch muscle fibers found in the slug’s body. Others state that the source of the jet-like propulsion of the slug comes from methane gas formed in the creature’s gut as a result of a diet of moldy leaves. That the creature is rarely seen performing its miraculous leaps is because it feeds at night, prefering to hide during the daytime. Wouldn’t that be a hoot- slugs propelled by methane! ---
**Author:** ![antechinus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/fbc32d/32.png) [@antechinus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antechinus)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2004, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-some-flesh-eating-slug-repellant/255217/19 "2004-07-18T12:29:27Z")
I have always wanted to try using a strip of copper foil parrallel to (10mm) a strip of zinc (or maybe just a copper wire and zinc wire) as a slug electric fence. But we dont have slugs 'round these parts. Can someone do the experiment. Make a small corral and see if the slug gets out. If it doesnt work you can cheat and put a 9v battery across 2 wires. Slug fact #23: Slugs can climb over a razor blade fence. ---
**Author:** ![quiltguy154](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/ad7895/32.png) [@quiltguy154](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quiltguy154)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2004, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-some-flesh-eating-slug-repellant/255217/20 "2004-07-19T00:55:00Z")
> [@neuroman](#): > > Does anyone know what wines go well with slug? Any of the slimier, silvery stick-in-your-throat varietals will do. 😛 Don’t wanna waste your precious store of beer on the little devils? Mix a pinch of regular baking yeast in a pint of water, let it ferment for a bit, then fill your traps. It’s the smell of the yeast that attracts the slugs. Too cheap to buy yeast? Lay out pieces of thin plywood, or floor tiles throughout their trails. In the morning turn over the boards/tiles and dispose of the slugs that’ve taken shelter under them[you get to choose the method of execution:salting, liming, crushing-think of the fun!] Citrus fruit halves that’ve been pressed for their juices also make handy traps, just put them cut side down. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-some-flesh-eating-slug-repellant/255217.md?page=2)