Limit Snail Populations Simply By Plucking

From The Fresno Bee, March 11, 2010; by Elinor Teague:

The spring rains and cooler temperatures have n0t kept snails and slugs in their hiding places. In fact, snails and slugs are most active on cloudy days just after a rain shower, climbing trees, walls and windows to forage for tender new leaves and nibbling the edges of every fresh blossom.

Hand-picking snails is a very effective means of reducing their populations. Hand-picking slugs is another story; they're too slimy to get a good hold on without using some sort of implement, and many of us are too squeamish to try.

The first step in hand-picking is trying to find their favorite nighttime spots. A thorough cleanup of old pots and garden debris will eliminate many of their hiding and breeding places.

Don't forget to check inside plant-filled containers on your patio and underneath the saucers; sweep the undersides of fence railings and lift up trailing branches on low-lying plants in your garden as well. You'll find that the slugs and snails regularly return to the same locations.

A trap for snails and slugs can easily be made by putting an old board or an overturned pot in a damp, shady spot in the garden.

If you're outside hunting snails early in the morning, it may be possible to trace the mucous trails back to their nests. Hunting with a flashlight in the cooler temperatures at dusk should yield a bounty of foraging snails and slugs. Snail-hunting will be a daily chore for a couple of weeks, then once every week or two should be enough.

I use the "big foot" method of snail and slug control and leave the remains for the bluejays to clean up (remarkable effective). In thick groundcovers such as ivy, it may be more practical to apply baits to control slugs and snails.

Metaldehyde-based baits have been used for many years. They are effective, but the pellet formulations especially are highly toxic to dogs and birds that ingest them. Use these baits only in places where children and pets cannot reach them.

The newer iron phosphate baits are equally effective in controlling snails and slugs, and they are less toxic to pets, children and wildlife. Spinosad, a naturally occurring bacteria that kills cutworms, earwigs and other chewing insects, has recently been added to iron phosphate baits. Both iron phosphate and spinosad are certified for use in organic gardens.

[I also use the big foot method for eliminating snails. The birds generally don't eat the remains at my house, but other snails come to feast on their dead friends, so I eliminate them, too!--Gard'n Judy].