I'd also heard about the slugs. When I was a kid, my older sister went to Oregon on an Outward Bound program (or some such), and when she got back she told me about the banana slugs she saw here. Slugs aren't very common in Colorado, so when I first saw them here (the non-banana kind) I found them kind of endearing. After being here awhile I find them less so. But the easy-to-get inexpensive microbrews still haven't lost their charm.
Given the surfeit of beer and slugs in Oregon, it's not surprising that the "beer trick" for trapping slugs in your garden is common knowledge around here. But it was news to me when I first heard it, so I'd like to share it with my friends and family in Colorado (specifically my sister, who asked me about it).
- Get beer. It doesn't have to be good beer (slugs aren't snobs).
- Get a small jar lid. It doesn't take much beer.
- Place the lid near the base of the slugs' favorite plant.
- Push it into the ground so the lip is level with the ground, (this step is optional, the lip of the lid is a small hurdle for the beer-thirsty slug).
- fill the jar lid with the beer.
- Wait for the slugs to come in and drown.
I just leave the pickled slugs there. The birds will eventually come and eat them. I add more beer (more or less daily) to replace whatever gets lost (some evaporates, some gets washed away in the rain or during watering, some is spilled or drunk by birds or other critters).
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