Mom had laid her eggs in just the right place, for when the 'gang' hatched there was plenty of food for all. The old landscape timber made a perfect place to sleep during the day, all was well with the family of mollusks. Intense light was not how a slug wants to waken, especially only half way through its daytime nap. Six, perhaps seven of the slimy creatures were rounded up and placed in a pickle jar. The smell of pickles permeated the air. Leaves, not the choicest by the way, were put in the jar as food and the lid of their prison was screwed tight. Escape was impossible. Prison food was terrible! The following day three 'volunteers' were led to an open area and set 'free.' This is their story: The three convicts, House, Java and Maxwell found themselves in a prison yard surrounded with high mounds of brown, wet, dead, ground, beans. ( photo / image / picture from Jerry Sullivan's Garden ) Being it was the middle of the day and wanting a dark place to sleep, the three made for the mounds. ( photo / image / picture from Jerry Sullivan's Garden ) ( photo / image / picture from Jerry Sullivan's Garden ) ( photo / image / picture from Jerry Sullivan's Garden ) Crossing them was easy but on the other side however, they were easily rounded up and returned to prison. So much for freedom. Later, Sleepy, Stretch, and Shorty were lifted and dropped into a similar prison yard, this time surrounded with shinny foil. The sign said: "Welcome to Cuprous Compound" This is their story: ( photo / image / picture from Jerry Sullivan's Garden ) Stretch was the first to attempt escape. Ouch!! Ouch!! Was the result of the first investigation of the shinny foil around the compound. Stretch made for the opposite side with a similar result. ( photo / image / picture from Jerry Sullivan's Garden ) ( photo / image / picture from Jerry Sullivan's Garden ) ( photo / image / picture from Jerry Sullivan's Garden ) Meanwhile shorty had woken from his nap and seeing no insurmountable barrier headed for the 'exit'. Ouch!! Ohh, what nasty stuff he thought. Is there another way out? ( photo / image / picture from Jerry Sullivan's Garden ) Stretch went over to sleepy, slithering over him he said, "Wake up Sleepy, find a way out of here!!" ( photo / image / picture from Jerry Sullivan's Garden ) Shorty was having a better time his second try and almost reached the other side before heading back. With the third attempt, he was successful and his reward was capture and another try for freedom. ( photo / image / picture from Jerry Sullivan's Garden ) ( photo / image / picture from Jerry Sullivan's Garden ) Stretch, seeing that shorty had escaped, slithered as fast as he could and he too reached the other side. ( photo / image / picture from Jerry Sullivan's Garden ) Sleepy awoke and seeing his friends escape reached freedom on his second try. So much for Cuprous Compound. Or was it? The prison still smelt like pickles but at least the food improved and a cover was put over the jar to keep the mollusks out of the sunlight. Tomorrow was another day and more adventures are in store for the Pickle Jar Prison Gang. Related topic: http://www.gardenstew.com/about29348.html Jerry
The experiment was done in the daytime when the slugs wanted to be asleep. I will have to repeat the procedure in the evening without sunlight. Then with a double ring, with food in the middle. Then with narrower strips of copper. We still have more adventures with the gastropod family. Sometimes science moves at a snails pace. Jerry
I'm keeping an eye on your experimentation Jerry in the hope you can find something to deter those slugs and snails. My poor hostas look as though they are made of lace at the moment. :-|
That's one critter we don't have around here. So I'm just watching this because I think Jerry's experiments are fun!
mmm, I think we have a few. But I never really had any time to inspect the garden, plant by plant, and assess the damages. I think mine are pretty well bahaved...
Slugs age making short work of my recently planted marigolds. I am hoping Jerry can recommend an effective deterrent
Jerry, halt the experiment! There's money to be made with slugs and you don't want to lose any to an experiment's unfortunate result. In Japan, women are paying up to $250 to let snails crawl across their face. It seems that snails excrete a "beauty boosting" mucus. Think of all the mucus a couple of slugs could excrete--you could open a "slug spa" and ladies could get boosted all over with just a few slugs. Your gastropods could mean big bucks!
I don't think any of my slugs speak Japanese. :-( Do I need a translator? As my slugs only work at night the patrons could sleep and the slugs could crawl. Phoo! Do the slugs need training? What happens if business is sluggish? Do I layoff slugs? Oh! The pains of running(crawling) a business. Jerry
Jerry, your slugs don't need a translator ("Yuck" is the same in many languages). Since Japan is in another time zone, you don't have to worry about your slugs' nocturnal habits. They will adjust. Training is not necessary--slugs do what slugs do, which isn't much. If business is sluggish, I suggest you hire an "ant agency". A bit of publicity can do wonders.
