Slug Takes The Bait

I have slugs in my square foot garden plot. Lots of slugs. I want to trap all the slugs before the lettuce becomes a slug target.


I made a slug trap and baited it with inexpensive beer. I used a small bowl, the size of a desert bowl from a school cafeteria. I dug into the soil a bit so the lip of the bowl was level with the surface of the soil. I then poured beer into the bowl almost to the lip of the bowl.


Below you can see one slug take the bait. It will take some time at the rate of one slug a day. 


I wonder where I can purchase party invitations, slug size.

The image is enlarged at least 3x. The original time lapse between exposures was one every 5sec. The replay speed is 2x.




©Damyon T. Verbo - all rights reserved

Slugs In My Square Foot Garden

To recap, in my square foot garden plot this year I mixed shredded and partially composted autumn leaves into last years soil that was amended with sand, and peat moss. I mounded that mixture above the level of the lawn to create this years square foot 4'(1.2m) x 4'(1.2m) plot.

14/"/20 hanger bolt

My time lapse camera was removed from the window mount so I could place it into my plot. In order to do that I drilled a fiberglass dowel to accept a 1/4"/20 hanger bolt. That is a lag screw on one end and a threaded machine screw on the other. The lag screw goes into the dowel and the machine screw is where the camera screws into the tripod mount. Then the dowel was driven into the soil at the edge of the plot and the camera screwed onto the dowel. 

What was captured was surprising.

I have since moved the camera to a mount about 20" above the plot pointed straight down. In this video the soil wasn't as moist as the above video. I also didn't see as many slugs, either.


Nonetheless, I will be placing a slug trap out in the near future. I planted some lettuce and expect that slugs will be there when the dinner bell rings.


As bait I purchased some inexpensive beer for the trap. It came in a 40oz(1.2l) bottle. 40oz is a popular size with the crowd wanting an inexpensive buzz. You see it wasn't just beer but beer fortified with extra malt liquor to bring the alcohol content to 8.1%. The slugs should get drunk faster.


©Damyon T. Verbo - all rights reserved