Flirting with Flowers - Keeyla's Garden Blog

Night Hunters If you have been considering the advocation of becoming a night hunter, snail and slugs will provide you a hunting ground to practice in. Wearing a mask might further spook your neighbors who will already be questioning you when meeting by the garbage can in the morning when depositing the compost bucket into the green can. In my case, my neighbor Jill questioning. "Was that you Keeyla shining a light into my bedroom window at 11:30 at night"? Could it really have been that late? It could. After all is done, I head out to the garden to gather up snails & slugs into one of those compostable milky white bags you get now at the health food store. I count them. You would think that after getting 60 of the lil' buggers on Tuesday there wouldn't be any more to harvest Thursday night. Not so. Plenty more. Where do they come from. In my garden I look everywhere. I know that they are especially fond of the inside rims of pots and succulent strapped shaped leaves like you find on agapanthus. At this time of year, April, I'm out saving my ranunculus. ( Do you know that I heard on the radio that Octopi is now Octopuses?) That is the kind of random thought that occurs to the brain collecting ranunculus feasting slugs. Believe it or not, I say a little prayer..telling these cute, slimy, slipping along bent stems with their feelers out critters that they are welcome back in another form that helps my flowers. As water, perhaps, is what I'm thinking. It helps my guilt as I plunge yet another one into my compost bag. I used to dig a hole in the daytime in prep for my nightly hunts so when I caught one chewing away at the stem holding up some flower or another, I'd deposit it in the hole to be covered over. Hurrying them up on their way to becoming compost. Still think that is a good practice if you have the foresight to dig a hole. So often I refer to my Mom as a path finder in my life as a gardener, not so when it comes to snails and slugs. Cory's snail bait in the bright yellow and red box was an always to be replenished supply of the garden shed. I don't like using poisons.  Beer pans work for while, copper collars for awhile. And the web is full of suggestions. I prefer to go out and hunt them down. You can feed the snails on corneal and lettuce and serve them up as escargot. I tend to prefer my garlic on french bread to dip into seafood soup with my snails sea faring relatives. My neighbor has one of those 'coal miner' lamps that is on a stretchy band to put around your head. It's on my list of things to get someday. I just use a cheapo flashlight. One client who didn't like to get the slim of snails and slugs on her fingers, told me that she used chop sticks to catch them. One student asked me  what do with a snail she'd found.  I told her to, excuse me, kill it, she picked up a rock and smashed it with such force that it splattered all over her face. Please don't follow her example. And yes, getting rid of the gooey slim does present a problem!  When people tell me what a great job I have, I agree, but then think of the list of job chores comparable to dealing with snails and slugs. While I've offered  clients my snail hunting services, I've yet to be taken up on this. I've grown quite fond of going out into the garden at night. Gives you a whole different perspective and somehow a deeper bonding with your plants. In the evening dew drops suspended on the edges of leaves and stems is what brings out the snails and slugs..I'm rather sympathetic to that as it is quite glittery by flashlight. --  There are some precautions to be made to nocturnally inclined gardeners. Two eager midnight maidens reported to me how they slimly escaped the  'talons' or rather the 'fangs'  of death  on a darkened garden path by stepping on poisonous snakes. One barely came out alive taking over a year to recover the other almost lost a leg and the blackened swollen limb was no picnic to endure. So those inhabiting snake or other dangerous animal territories should take all precaution. The rest of us knowing the lay of the land before venturing out is a good idea. A note: I've added to my catch of night crawlers; grubs, cut worms, earwigs, and walking sticks. Have fun joining the 'Night Crawlers'