Thursday, April 22, 2010

Snail Patrol!

Generally speaking, the blogs out there where someone simply rants on about something that is bugging them are not my cup of tea. So before I do exactly that, I issue a small apology…

Now that it is spring and there is still a bit of rain, or at least some lovely moisture in the air, the nights are cool and the plants have beautiful, tender, succulent, baby leaves, in march the SNAILS! Gastropod: n. the class comprising the snails, whelks, slugs, etc. – Random House. Okay, I’m obsessed about snails. Those glutinous, slithering, globs of guck are too much for me. I love my garden and take great joy in seeing things sprouting anew as we move from winter to spring, only to have all that joy dashed by some little jerk in a shell eating that new basil plant, for example, down to the stems while I am inside minding my own business…

Now some of this obsession could have come to me by way of genetics. When I was growing up our house had a Dichondra lawn which is really lovely, however it is like snail caviar and back in the day, I’m sure my parents would have gladly used some sort of poison to get rid of them but that was just not practical on your whole lawn, considering kids and pets etc., so I have a vivid image of my mother, out in the dark, with a flashlight, smashing snails…hence the beginning of…Snail Patrol! I myself keep a mostly organic garden and ‘snail bait’ is not part of the program. I have tried copper tape, but it seems the snails pole vault over it. I have tried pie tins filled with beer and sunk into the soil, with some success; finding pans of pickled snails in the morning is gratifying. And then there is salt, but of course any dampness causes that to dissipate and become useless. Sunset Garden Book advises that you will never get rid of snails for good, they will always return. (Thanks) So I have adopted the Snail Patrol technique.

Last night I was taking some trash out to the bin when I noticed them…snail tracks! I rushed into the house, nothing could have stood in my way, grabbed my flashlight and hurried back outside – like they were moving so fast they’d get away! There they were, oodles of them, I could hear them munching, that did it, my snail commando genes just took over, I was on the hunt, under pots, on leaves, cruising down the sidewalk, they were everywhere! I couldn’t move fast enough to eradicate them. And the creepy part is I started counting - like a Grimm’s fairytale – ‘killed seven in one blow’! I’m sure some snail loving group would find this horrific, but I’m convinced they live somewhere with a concrete yard – probably painted green and just have no clue. To say the least, the mission was a success…hence no photos – it was just mayhem…but I’ll probably be out there again tonight, protecting my plants with everything I’ve got…

1 comment:

  1. Surround your bed with lava rock. It's not very attractive but snails and slugs won't crawl over it. Their undersides get ripped up.

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