Gardening!

[leelai]

My mum used to put beer traps in for the slugs, a little plastic cup or cut off bottom of a plastic bottle buried up to the rim, half filled with beer. The slugs fall in and drown. There is a win-win to this because hedgehogs are in decline so imagine how they will thrive on a diet of slugs marinated in beer......it'll be party time in the garden!

The Archangel

My mum did that too! Also empty butter containers for cockroaches.....all worked a treat!

A touch of Dettol will kill a toad too.

 

[Hayles66]

Guys, guys, guys! Bloodthirsty lot, you are. Giggle. And no, nothing will entice me to eat a snail. Ever!

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[Pinkpoison]

Guys, guys, guys! Bloodthirsty lot, you are. Giggle. And no, nothing will entice me to eat a snail. Ever!

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lol,me neither Hayles, not even french ones

 

[Pinkpoison]

A touch of Dettol will kill a toad too.

ohhhh Sandra,i couldn't kill a toad.

 

[Hayles66]

I couldn't kill a toad either.

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[KevinJS]

Guys, guys, guys! Bloodthirsty lot, you are. Giggle. And no, nothing will entice me to eat a snail. Ever!

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I've eaten hundreds. They taste pretty good.

 

[leelai]

ohhhh Sandra,i couldn't kill a toad.

I can and have killed lots of them here......they kill our native frogs.

They are in plague proportions in some areas and we even have groups of people who go out at night in summer hunting for them. They bag them and freeze them.

Apparently that's the humane way.....don't know what they do with them then.

We also have green tree frog clubs, my aunt is a member. They breed the frogs and then release them into their areas.

When I was a kid, I used to see green frogs all the time, toads have totally decimated their numbers and its not often I'll spot one any more.

 

[scifan57]

I can and have killed lots of them here......they kill our native frogs.

They are in plague proportions in some areas and we even have groups of people who go out at night in summer hunting for them. They bag them and freeze them.

Apparently that's the humane way.....don't know what they do with them then.

We also have green tree frog clubs, my aunt is a member. They breed the frogs and then release them into their areas.

When I was a kid, I used to see green frogs all the time, toads have totally decimated their numbers and its not often I'll spot one any more.

Would those be the cane, toads? Is the intention to try and wipe them out?

 

[leelai]

Would those be the cane, toads? Is the intention to try and wipe them out?

Yes cane toads, they get as big as dinner plates.....they can kill small dogs, cats and other animals also.

They are an introduced species and yes it would be wonderful to wipe them out but that will never happen as they are just so prolific at breeding.

But if we can keep their numbers down in the suburbs we have a chance of preserving our own frogs.

So if you see me out at night with a big bat, you'll know what I'm doing!

 

[Hayles66]

There is a big debate about culling badgers in my area. TB is a real threat to the farmers and their cattle but what I want to know is why there isn't enough research to actually treat the disease. So many badgers slaughtered.

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[KevinJS]

There is a big debate about culling badgers in my area. TB is a real threat to the farmers and their cattle but what I want to know is why there isn't enough research to actually treat the disease. So many badgers slaughtered.

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TB is a very difficult bug to kill. It's easier to go after the carrier than the disease, in this case. Additionally, there are strains of TB that have become drug-resistant, so it's a very serious problem.

 

[Hayles66]

But how many of them are not carriers? That is the question! I realise we are talking about the big cattle farmers and how much money they lose every year and that it's not simple to test and protect cattle from the disease but there are some farmers who also don't believe culling badgers is the right way to go about it. I'm a member of the RSPCA and they are dead against it. I like to see both sides of the story though so any ideas either way are appreciated. Thanks for that Kevin.

How are you these days? Haven't seen any photos of the road from your truck lately? Less snow?

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[scifan57]

I think the problem here is that i's easier to wipe out the whole population than to test each animal for TB. The same shotgun approach is sometimes applied to other groups, such as animals considered to be garden pests. Often the efforts to eradicate the supposedly harmful animal affects far more than the original scope. I believe cane toads were introduced to Australia to control an insect pest. What they didn't realize was that the cane toad has no natural enemies in Australia.

 

[Richard Brown]

Instead of getting rid of the snails, add them to the dinner plate. Thanks for the idea, Gabe.

Along with a slug of whiskey.

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[Richard Brown]

...and I'll add my lettuce greens as a side and my spearmint leaves for our tea'

My wife, Flora, just made herself a mint water drink. Boiled water with a sprig of fresh garden mint in it. The smell is divine. It settles a bad stomach.

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