Comments on: Military Manoeuvres

By: I Keep Waiting… « Town Mouse

I Keep Waiting… « Town Mouse — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 20:43:28 +0000

[...] just shows what a little coddling can do. If only I had time to lavish the same level of attention on the rest of my crops we’d [...]

By: Mental Note to Self « Town Mouse

Mental Note to Self « Town Mouse — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 19:01:40 +0000

[...] And for those asking: this is what a huge bronze fennel plant looks like. Front door shown actual size. And this despite being planted right next to the snail army HQ. [...]

By: livinginabox

livinginabox — Sun, 29 Jul 2012 17:10:03 +0000

Sadly, I think that lots of dead hedgehogs on the road is a portent of bad things to come. With road-building and traffic levels, the population may or may not be capable of sustaining the losses. If not it may be a death-spiral. This is what appears to have happened in the outskirts of London. Hedgehogs used to be a common site [live] in gardens and flattened on the roads. Now I haven’t seen one in the garden for over 20 years and only seen one dead on the roads in at least the last five years. Research has shown that road mortality can reduce populations by as much as 30%. This may not be sustainable, depending upon other factors.
This is an external cost of motoring, not paid-for by motorists. Albeit non-financial, it is a burden borne by the natural world. It is a loss for all of us. Roads cut habitat into smaller and smaller fragments. Traffic threatens anything that attempts to cross with the prospect of becoming road-kill. Of course hedgehogs would benefit gardeners by eating slugs and snails.

This is another reason why cycling is good for the environment and cars are very bad for the environment.

By: disgruntled

disgruntled — Sun, 29 Jul 2012 07:09:55 +0000

Assuming some hedgehogs survive the road carnage, there must be lots of them around maybe?

Female flowers have a bulb at the base – the thing that will grow into the pumpkin or squash if you’re lucky

By: emma c

emma c — Sat, 28 Jul 2012 11:36:29 +0000

So glad your squash is doing so well. I am trying pumpkins for the first time in years. I reckon they are worth it, if only because they only need the space and not much else (evidently even in Scotland!). Now I just need to go and ask the internet how to identify male/female flowers..
But regarding slugs and snails, last year I covered everything in coffee grounds and it all got eaten, this year, I was too lazy to do anything and everything is unmolested. All I see on the roads are squashed hedgehogs, so what is the trick? I am marshaling my defences all the same…

By: livinginabox

livinginabox — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 11:40:58 +0000

“I don’t think I can throw them that far…” Neither could I.
Perhaps you could get in training for the next Olympics.

Remember:
a) The not-so-little buggers know where the food is!
b) After their little vacation, they’ll be even hungrier!

The alternative is the boot! Or to throw them very hard at a solid object. They definitely won’t come back after that.

By: disgruntled

disgruntled — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 11:04:58 +0000

I don’t think I can throw them that far…

By: livinginabox

livinginabox — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 10:51:31 +0000

It’s probably best to opt for a distance of >100 m, just to make sure.

By: livinginabox

livinginabox — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 10:48:55 +0000

There are two ways of getting rid of slugs and snails:
a) Death, preferably by a method not involving toxic substances.
b) Transportation

While a) is always effective [at least I can't imagine how it would not be], the success of b) depends how far they are transported. If they are deposited within their home range they are highly likely to return. Removal distance should be greater than 10 m.

Relevant research.
May only be relevant to snails, may not apply to slugs.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/features/so-you-want-to-be-a-scientist/experiments/homing-snails/results/

Good luck! In the South-East, the wet weather was a boon for gastropods, they seem to be everywhere. I can barely imagine what it’s like North of the border.