slug pellets help

just a quick question for any 1,just bought some slug pellets and it dosnt say anything about if it harms the birds if they eat them after they have died,i emailed the company that produces them and they say that birds will not eat dead or dieing slugs and snails,is this true or is there answear just to fob me off

Right-it is unlikely that a bird eating a slug that has been killed by eating a slug pellet would in turn die itself-they would have to eat hundreds of dead slugs to be harmed and that is unlikely

Same goes for hedgehogs.

And the company are right- a dead slug is not as appetising a live one

But there are wildlife friendly pellets you can buy as an alternative to the the blue ones that do what they say on the tin

cheers for that,just needed to know so im not harming the birds, new to all this gardening stuff,just need to stop all the cats now .

Have read of this-----

http://www.allotment.org.uk/gardening/slugs-snails

and this

http://www.wildlife-web.org.uk/hedgehog/facts/dangers.html

and the trillion discussions on cats in the garden

http://www.gardenersworld.com/search/forum/cats/

nice 1 thanks for your help.

Hi Matmats123 i think i,m one of the worst complainers about Cats  ,long story cut short iv had to wire fence my rear garden and slate stone my front because of neighbors cats,after i tried everything known or suggested and i mean everything except a bullet , the only part if my garden apart from large pots that cats can ruin is on my unfenced front which i sprayed with Jayes fluid ready to use disinfectant that was about 6/8 weeks ago or longer  and Not one deposit has been left, not one, and  iv only sprayed the area twice in all this time i cant think of anything else that has stopped them as i still see them walking across this area but no probs  now,and becouse we now have no real garden to enjoy weve decided to move to Norfolk and start again, Cats what can i say  good luck give it a try its about £4 B&Q /Wilkos etc   

Sorry forgot Sotogeoff advised me to slug pellet the slugs  around Valentines day before they mate so hopefully not so many eggs get to hatch and im ready to start the war  Alan

Haven't cats reached Norfolk yet then Alan??!!

If you believe hedgehogs eat slugs you are denying them food if you use slug pellets.

Thrushes definitely eat snails.  What will they eat?

The best way to kill slugs is to cut them in half with scissors.  The wildlife will clear up the remains overnight.

Much better idea Welshonion. Instant for the slug and harmless to everything else

I'm definitely a wildlife friend but how can I possibly go out there every single night and cut the in half??? Oh dear, doomed to failure...

Hi Highland, i really hope not however ,while we live here we spend most of our time 2 miles away at the allotment ,it was coming home to the mess that upset Kate so much,SO this time were getting a house with a big,big garden so ill be out there most of the time wi mi wata pistol  and slug pellets

good luck Alan  

cheers to all that have replyed.not used slug pellets before just had afew people tell me that they can be harmful to the birds,i go out at night looking for them when the time comes and kept it under control but with more of the wet weather we are having struggeling to keep up with them.and as for the cats its not as much them doing there business on my garden its them killing the birds and raking up my containers and even coming into the house.i just have a small back yard made of concrete and brick so try to make the most out of it, and with the pots been dug out by the cat and the bird table in reach of them it just makes thing hard.

Not sure that this discussion is a logical one but I'm happy to be proved wrong.

How is the use of slug pellets denying hedgehogs or thrushes food? My garden is grown always with wildlife in mind.

Hollie hock, if you kill all the slugs and snails what will the wildlife eat?  

My understanding  is that there is something in the slug pellets that affects the shell quality of the birds who eat the slugs and snails so the egg shells are weakened and break and the birds are unable to reproduce.  I've not read anything about this recently but it was certainly talked about some years ago in farming magazines.

I would rather use Nematodes if I had a problem - a much safer way to control slugs.

I think we have to accept that people use different ways of controlling slugs and should not be made to feel guilty about using slug pellets of any sort in moderation-as for the feeding of wildlife issue there are still plenty of slugs to go round-whatever method is used there seems to be and endless supply-nothing will go hungry.

We will never,ever wipe them out

I also believe the poisoning issue is covered in the links above

I always find the slug pellet debate an interesting one.There is no way I'm going out at night and picking them up, cutting them up or putting them in salt etc. I just do not have the time or inclination to do so.

It makes sense to me that if you use any chemicals/pesticides excessively and continuously, the chemicals will eventually build up in the food chain and produce negative effects for the different consumers within the food chain particulary with fertility. A decrease in populations of birds and hedghogs is due to a combination of factors.

I use them around 3-4 times a year around certain plants that have been truly decimated by them. In these instances it just gives the plant a chance to photosynthesize and survive. I grow the vast majority of plants from seeds and cuttings, when I plant out I always expect and accept that some(a lot) will be eaten. Pellets are a last but effective last resort for me.

I am still a wildlife gardener.

I have thought about using Nematodes but not sure about this I don't use any other pesticides and for me I don't like the idea of putting stuff into the soil. I don't know  much about them but I believe they contain neo-nicotinoids which aren't good for the bees.

Long post I know, but we all have different ways