Natalie, that would be an attractive solution! I have bluebirds nesting now. I do agree that birds help keep pests down.

Teresa, all it took was two bluebird houses, and I haven't seen any slugs since. One house had bluebirds, and the other has tree swallows. Between the two, they have worked great! The year before, I didn't have the houses up, and I had a lot of slug damage. I do have many more houses up, but the rest aren't right in that area. Works perfect for me!

Natalie - I may do the birdhouse thing in our front full sun gardens. do you put bird seed in the house, or just put out an empty house for them to come and go as they please? I wonder if this would work in a shade garden? one of our three shade areas is being shredded- literally, by slugs (or something similar). so much so that we've actually dug up and replaced several hostas, they were that bad, and put them in pots to rescue them!

I don't think bird seeds are what you want the birds to be eating if you are trying to attract insect eating birds like Blue Birds. Maybe a mixed tray of slugs and snails with a little welcome note from the management!

I don't think bird seeds are what you want the birds to be eating if you are trying to attract insect eating birds like Bluebirds. Maybe a mixed tray of slugs and snails with a little welcome note from the management! I built and placed some bird houses (built to Bluebird specs.)but unknowingly placed them in the shade nailed to oak trees, the first one drew wrens right away, the other one I had facing my nice open back yard and I thought it perfect for Bluebirds even after I learned they did not prefer shade, but still it only drew a nest of flying squirrels. I don't recall that house ever having any birds in it. I do see a lot of blue birds in my yard but they have never built a nest in either house, guess I might try again one day.

I put them in with my mealworms and the wrens eat them for sure. The problem with the birds helping keep them in check is, the slugs are sleeping when the birds are up, and visa versa. I wish Natalie had a tree cam. I finally went with slug bait and it i working 95%. I dont mind just the hand picking, but not when the daylilies are scaping.

I kind of was thinking that too Pam that the birds would be sleeping when the slugs were active. There could be some other animals that eat slugs. Any animal that is nocturnal, like possums or skunks could possibly eat them maybe. I have sometimes though seen slugs during the daytime, especially after a rain.

Upon googling, it seems frogs, newts, and shrews eat them racoons, hedgehogs, some songbirds.
What doesnt eat them is lizards, and I have lizards all in my daylilies. They seem to be a huge treat for ducks and hens as well.


This is Mighty Moth about an hour after planting. How on earth did they get there Bet you can guess that situation was corrected PDQ Its surrounded by snail bait now. I will admit to checking it once or twice a day, along with the others

Opossums and Raccoons in my garden seem to prefer earthworms to snails and slugs, and they don't mind completely digging up small daylilies to get to them either (or cucumbers, squash, zinnias, marigolds, etc.)
In thinking about how slug baits work (they attract snails and slugs) I am wondering if it is good to place the baits near the plant intended to protect, or place the baits a little further away to lure them away and kill them. Are the baits effective enough to kill all the slugs and snails they attract? Or are they appealing enough to draw snails and slugs away from the targeted plants?

Jason, Bluebirds don't eat birdseed, and I've never put anything in the house to attract them. There is quite a ruckus when they arrive, with everyone fighting over the two houses in the daylily garden. There is always a broker out there trying to schedule showings, but all the birds show up at once, and fight over the real estate. Between the Bluebirds and Tree Swallows, they have the area covered! I also have about 10 other houses up around the fence line, and they are all full. I always keep seed out for the other birds too. One thing I've noticed is that the Bluebirds love taking baths, but I've never seen another bird taking a bath here. So, maybe a bird bath in the area would help? Just make sure that the houses are hung where they are in an open area. I don't believe that they will nest in a house attached to a tree, unless the rest of the circumstances are to their liking. They want an open area below them, so that they can look for bugs.

Pam, I do have a tree cam, but it won't work in the daylily garden. They are motion activated, and with the wind never stopping here, the foliage on the daylilies would set it off all day long.

Oh I would just love a camera outside. Ive always wanted bluebirds but we just live on too wooded of a lot. Ive seen them around the corner in more open areas, so that is better than nothing.

Pam, I've got oodles of turkey and deer videos from that camera! Some of the videos have both in the same one! We really enjoy having it!

I HIGHLY recommend Deadline for slugs and snails!

I've used the beer trick in shallow dishes with great success. Good luck!

@sooby.... I didn't know that Sluggo had EDTA in it, or that EDTA would be a problem. I can't say that I am happy about it having toxicity problems for dogs or worms... On the other hand, I still feel it is probably safer (at least for dogs) than the old metaldedhyde (spelling?) products.

I don't use Sluggo (or Sluggo Plus) much, but I do sometimes have to use it in the spring around certain plants, or at the edges of my raised veggie beds (where/if I am growing lettuce and greens). (I'm no longer young, and my current property is too large (and full of night-active wildlife) for me to even consider doing the flashlight snail patrols that I used to do when I was younger.)

My dog at least stays out of the raised beds. I guess I will have to be cautious about using it in the ground level beds.

Another page on the subject:

http://www.cloudforest.com/caf...

@Polymerous,
Can't get that web page to load.
Loaded fine for me this morning!

The page loaded fine for me. Very interesting reading. I have never used Sluggo, and don't plant on starting, especially now!