Slug problem

[JBR]

We have noticed, on a morning, slug trails across the kitchen floor where the things have come out searching for cat food.  I believe that they come from under the floor via any necessary holes, such as for water pipes.
We quickly realised the problem and decided to put their overnight food in bowls at the far end of the adjacent carpeted room thinking that they'd find it difficult to slither across the surface.  Unfortunately, this morning we found slug trails all the way along the carpet, a distance of over twelve feet.  Of course, the buggers have disappeared by morning!
I suppose you have to admire their perseverance, but we cannot let this continue.

Solutions?  I cannot lift up all the floorboards to find the invaders.  I cannot put poison down in case the cats should be damaged.  I cannot put up a closed and sealed border between the kitchen and the adjacent carpeted room, as the cats need to go out for a poo.
All we can think of is not to put any food down overnight.

Any other suggestions, please?

[klondike]

They need a damp environment to live. I think you need to figure out why it is damp under your floor as it shouldn't be imo.

[JBR]

They need a damp environment to live. I think you need to figure out why it is damp under your floor as it shouldn't be imo.

Good point.  Thanks.  There are no water leaks, but perhaps water can get in through air bricks.  Worth checking.

[klondike]

Could be groundwater I suppose. I inherited this house from my mother. She used to get slugs in kitchen and back room. The kitchen was a concrete floor and the back room a suspended wood floor. When I got it renovated because I chose to move here rather than just sell it the back room floor was found to be rotted and needed to be replaced. I don't know exactly how it had rotted either but I never get slugs so something was fixed.

Airbricks are there to allow airflow which should dry it rather than make it damp.

[Scrumpy]

Feed them.. and they will come.

[Alex]

I hate the buggers they ruin my Hostas.  Ive tried copper tape, slug pellets which are ok for animals and my latest effort I found on Facebook you could try spraying on the carpet.  It's just garlic cloves boiled up and put in a spray bottle.  I spray the Hosta leaves at night, but its too soon to say if its done the trick.

Good luck JB, I'd have a coronary if I found any in the house !

[JBR]

We could put down poison behind the footboards in the kitchen, I suppose, as I'm sure that is where they come from, and the cats couldn't get to it.

Still, I don't like to harm any animals, even hornets(!).  Even slugs can't help how they are born.  I'd rather try to deter them than poison them.

[klondike]

You don't need poison to kill them anyway as salt will do that.

This will have suggestions too. I'd be more concerned about the damp which must be present.,
https://andermattgarden.co.uk/blogs/pests/slug-infestation-how-to-get-rid-of-slugs-and-snails#:~:text=Seal%20the%20areas%20they%20get,deal%20with%20your%20slug%20problem.

[JBR]

You don't need poison to kill them anyway as salt will do that.

This will have suggestions too. I'd be more concerned about the damp which must be present.,
https://andermattgarden.co.uk/blogs/pests/slug-infestation-how-to-get-rid-of-slugs-and-snails#:~:text=Seal%20the%20areas%20they%20get,deal%20with%20your%20slug%20problem.

That's helpful.  Thanks.  I'll let Marge see it as the slugs (probably not the same ones) eat some of her plants in the garden.

[Alex]

The Slug Collars look a good idea, thanks Klondy might try those next.

[klondike]

Copper and sharp stuff such as crunched sea shells (with egg shells a possible substitute) might work for your hostas. The idea being to put a barrier around them. You'd need to pick any out that were already in there if course.

[Mups]

I think it's been the worse spring I can remember for slugs and snails, this year.

I had around 65 Cosmos seedlings, and all I've got left is 5 now.

I have been covering my emerging Dahlias up with cloches every night, and uncovering again in the morning,  but to my amazement,  I actually saw one slug slithering up the sides of a cloche, and trying to get through the ventilation hole at the top.   Salt soon put an end to him!

I've put grit round some plants, but the blighters have slithered across that even.

Copper tape is all very well,  but of no use if plants are in the ground and not in pots.

I can't put any pellets down, as I have dogs,  one of which is an avid gardener and pokes about everywhere she shouldn't.  She pinches anything that isn't nailed down!

[JBR]

I have been covering my emerging Dahlias up with cloches every night, and uncovering again in the morning,  but to my amazement,  I actually saw one slug slithering up the sides of a cloche, and trying to get through the ventilation hole at the top.  Salt soon put an end to him!

Poor slug.  They're all God's creatures, and I don't even believe in God.

[klondike]

Me neither. I do believe in slugs though as I've seen them. I've seen the blue ammunition too but where do you get the guns that fire those slug pellets?
 

[JBR]

Me neither. I do believe in slugs though as I've seen them. I've seen the blue ammunition too but where do you get the guns that fire those slug pellets?
 

The poor things are just trying to survive.  
We don't put down cat food overnight now, or anything else that will attract them, so I'm hoping they'll move along to survive next door.