Slugs

[3330]

Strange title for an RV forum? I wanted to share a dilemma with you folks.

I have this recently acquired Designer Legacy that I'm getting road ready for the snow bird season. Shortly after getting to work I found a damp area back in the corner where the water pump is housed in a lower cabinet. I actually found a slug that had made his happy home in the corner of that space. Since evicting the vile critter and drying the area it has remained dry as far as I can tell. Today I looked in the cabinet again to check for dampness and another slug was camped in there! I'm thinking that these slimy creatures live in the garden where they can eat your expensive plants so I assume they are hiding out in that dark recess to escape the summer heat and dryness. The only way I can see for them to gain access is by climbing up the water hose or power cord and then through where the plumbing to the pump enters.

I do know that the missus is not sharing her quarters with slugs so I have to find a way to keep them out. I read on the net that slugs will not cross a copper wire as it reacts with the slime and gives them a shock. After reading that I went out and wound a bit of bare copper wire around both the water hose and the power cord. Hopefully that will keep them from coming in that way. I will try my best to make sure I don't have any leaks in the pump area but it is really tucked in there. I think the dampness may have come from the corner of the slide which is near that area. The slide has not been cycled since 2004 so who knows what condition the seal is in.

Have any of you folks had trouble with slugs inside your rig? Any ideas that might help?

[norty1]

This may be a first for me. Never heard of this one before. It will be an entertaining thread!

[Larry G.]

Haven't heard of this one either...though I've known a lot of slugs in my days.

:wink:

[taviking22]

From ask.com:

[h=1]How Do I Stop Slugs Coming into My House?[/h]

[h=2]Answer[/h]To stop slugs from entering the house, it is best to first trace the openings that they use to get in the house and plug them. Sprinkling salt in their path is also a good deterrent. Copper strips are also said to repel slugs.



And from http://www.gardensalive.com/:

...there are many other non-toxic ways to subdue these slimy sons of snot!

1) Beer. Yes, it really does work. It’s also the best non-personal way to confirm that overnight damage is due to the slimy beasts. Just don’t use the often-cited “stale beer”, which slugs like about as much as you and I do. Place commercial traps or old margarine tubs on top of the soil close to the damaged plants, wait until dusk and then fill them with the cheapest—but freshest—beer you can find. The next morning, they should be filled with dead drunken slugs. Dump this defeated debris nearby (where it will attract their cannibalistic pals) and repeat every evening.
2) Coffee. New research has found caffeine to be very effective at dispatching slugs. Save your dregs and spray them full strength directly on the beasts in the evening. Surround plants under attack with a mulch of used coffee grounds to deter slugs and feed the plants.
3) Iron phosphate. Turns out that iron is very bad for a slug’s digestion. Like deadly bad. So a new generation of products with brand names like “Sluggo” and “Escar-Go!” wrap iron in a slug-attracting bait. You simply scatter the pellets around plants in peril to wipe out the pests without poisons. (And a little extra iron is good for your garden soil.)
4) Copper. Slugs get shocked when they touch this shiny metal. You can buy ready-made copper plant guards or just adorn your raised bed frames with copper flashing. Hot-glue rings of pennies around the tops of your containers. Drop captured slugs into a jar of pennies and watch ‘em spark!
5) Diatomaceous earth. Available at garden centers, ‘DE’ is the mined fossilized remains of dinosaur-era, sea-going creatures called diatoms. It looks like white flour, but is incredibly sharp on a microscopic level, dehydrating slugs on contact. Surround plants under attack with protective rings of DE (be sure to wear a dust mask); freshen them up if they get wet.
6) Boards. Lay some old planks between your garden beds. The vampiric slugs will crawl underneath to hide from the sun. Come morning, lift the boards and scrape the slugs into a bucket with a flat piece of metal. Then do with them what you will. Hey—got any pennies?
7) Human hair. Surround your plants with a protective barrier of hair. The slugs will get all tangled up in it and strangle (hey—it was them or the hostas!); and the hair will eventually add plant-feeding nitrogen to the soil.
8) Citrus. Leave lemon, orange and grapefruit rinds out overnight near slug prone plants, and then collect and trash them—covered with slugs—first thing the next morning. Old lettuce leaves work well too.
9) Vinegar. A spray bottle filled with plain white vinegar is a great cure for slugs that aren’t on plants. An extremely effective mollusk dissolver, vinegar is also an herbicide—so don’t spritz the salvia.
10) Toads. Avoid all pesticides, provide water low to the ground and a damp shady spot for them to hide during the heat of the day, and these wonderful nocturnal predators will eat lots of slugs for you.
11) Rove beetles. These big black bugs don’t bother plants, but do eat LOTS of slugs and their eggs. So don’t hurt them!
12) Lightning bugs. The larval form of these summertime entertainers, the fascinating “glowworm,” eats slugs and their eggs. To encourage adults to breed nearby, turn off outdoor lights at night, allow a small area of your garden to stay moist and a little weedy, and don’t use pesticides.
13) Ducks! Just turn a few loose in the garden—these feathered friends (and natural fertilizer providers) are among nature’s FINEST slug-eaters! And all together now: “We can always use the eggs”. Thank you.



I think if I were to try all 13 (knowing that not all of these would be applicable to your RV), I'd go back to #1 and have a couple myself! That just might improve one's attitude toward the slimy little buggers

Good luck ridding your infestation!

[3330]

Thanks for the relies, fellows. I like the suggestion to have a couple (few beers)! I was telling the missus about me sharing my slug woes with the forum and she told me that all you guys are going to think we have a Conestoga wagon that we can't keep the bugs out of. I told her that the truth never hurts for long

This 2003 model came our place back in 2004 when an old friend needed a spot to park for a while. Our friend is a retired Navy Master Chief and a good soul. He's lived here in the rig off and on since then but with his age getting up into the 80's he's settled into an assisted living situation and sold the rig to us. We staked a claim for a spot in Yuma to spend the winter so if I can get everything ship-shape we will have it in the desert heat where there are on slugs. (Don't mention scorpions to my wife!)

[Jagiven]

Slugs, that is definitely a new one. I have never heard the one that a slug gets a shock if it crosses a copper wire. I do know that slugs do not like copper. 3M makes a copper scotch-brite pad, I bet a couple of those place in the water connections and electrical ports would keep the slugs from passing. It maybe worth crawling under the trailer and filling every hole with a dollop of caulk too. This would also help keep any potential mice out too. Are the stabilizers down? Maybe they are coming up them, I wonder if Permatex “Copper Spray a Gasket” material would work to stop them on the stabilizers.

As for slug prevention in the yard. I make a home brew slug juice and spray the beasts just after dark. In a tank sprayer I add about a cup of lemon ammonia, a cup of cheap lemon dish soap, a cup of Murphy’s Oil Soap, 1 tsp hydrogen peroxide (not a drop more, as it will kill your plants, including grass), then fill the rest of the tank sprayer with water. Mix it and spray the beasts. They are dead within a minute of contact. I believe the ammonia is what does most of the work as it strips the slim off the little beasts. The soaps keep them from breathing, the hydrogen peroxide dries them out, and the lemon scent keeps the other bugs away. Been using this solution for years.

Best of luck,

[Gibby3275]

The only slug I found in my trailer was my brother in-law.

The last thing I would give him is beer.

[oobedoob]

Originally Posted by gibby3275

the only slug i found in my trailer was my brother in-law.

The last thing i would give him is beer.

:rofl:

[3330]

Well, I've gotten quite an education on the habits of the wretched garden slug. I've lived here in the Puget sound area most of my life and slugs are a given but you don't really get that interested as when they invade your personal space

I have the area dry as a bone and vacuumed real well so I hope with my copper wire around the lines the problem is solved. The idea of using copper Scotchbrite to plug holes is a good one so thanks for the tip, Jagiven.