It rained early this morning, after quite a dry spell here. At 10:30 am the rain seemed to have stopped so I set off for a walk, deciding to first stroll around the garden.
What did I see but an army of snails, brought out of hiding by the dampness, sliding across the grass, all over the pigface, up between the spines of cactus plants. I am not kidding when I say they were actually in clusters, especially around/in/under the pigface. This has always been a snaily garden, even when we first bought the land and there was no garden here, but, this morning's battalions of them were almost beyond belief.
An hour and hundreds of dead snails later, I set off on my walk.
You can have your beer traps and your environment-friendly baits (both moderately effective) and whatever other traps you can devise, nothing, but nothing, beats a determined snail stomp on a damp day after a dry spell.
I have decided that the pigface, which has spread way beyond where I originally wanted it anyway, has to go. The snails love it too much.
Hi Mary, I clearly remember this happening at our house when I was a child. One morning we woke to find that the front lawn of our house had turned itself into a carpet of snails. We had never seen anything like it. I have never seen anything like it since. Anyway, being the oldest of five children, I led the gumboot charge against the slimy invaders and we soon dispatched them to a squishy end. Thousands of 'em! They were simply no match for our enthusiasm! The birds and ants must have polished off the remains before we got back from school that day, because I don't recall any mess lying about for days, though I must admit that my powers of observation may not have extended to 'mess'. I still sometimes wonder why that invasion occurred, and sometimes even wonder whether I had perhaps dreamed it.
ReplyDeleteI can see you all now. I could have done with some enthusiastic helpers here yesterday.
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