Marigolds- for those of you who may be "botanically challenged"
We bought four flats and I went home and planted and watered them, thinking what gorgeous color they would add to our front yard. The next morning when I went out to bask in their beauty this is what I saw:
These critters where having a "munchfest" all over my little marigolds-
So began my battle against the snails began. Everyday since I have become Xena Snail Warrior! I have tried numerous weapons: Snail Bait, the Stomp and Squish Method (can't stand this one- there's nothing worse than hearing that crunch and having slime all over the bottom of your shoe), chucking them to kindgom come (the street) everything short of a saucer a beer. I remember that was one Grandma Kuhre tried once - I couldn't bring myself to go buy beer- but I hear it works pretty well. Hmm-- there's something to imagine- drunk snails!
Contrary to my behavior, I really hate killing the little things- because truth be told I find snails kind of cute. I think it started in 2nd grade when my teacher Mrs. Salisbury came in with a huge jar of live snails, plopped one on each child's desk and told us to observe, write and draw a picture of our snail. I wrote and drew and in fact I drew so well that Mrs Salisbury showed MY picture to the class as an example of excellent snail art. My ego grew ten fold that day as well as my affection for snails.
So it is a dilemma to me. Where's the pest guy, Ryan, when I need him or Caden with his sword? But in spite of my affection for the slimy mollusks- I really love those flowers and the money and effort I spent on them. So every morning since discovering the eaten stalks I go out on snail patrol. I pick up any dead ones my bait took care of and go looking for live culprits. I collect them all in a ziploc bag- zip it up and throw it in the trash. I know that sounds inhumane- Karli thought so. Her solution was that I ferry all the offenders to the vacant lot behind the house and let them go free. Without anything there to eat I knew it would only be a matter of time before they made their way back to our yard. So I zip them shut in a bag- but I do add a couple of stalks of grass to appease my conscience, ya know, just in case they want something to eat while they are suffocating!
A couple of days ago I went to throw some garbage out and believe it or not those little culprits had made a break for it- burst out of their plastic prison and were crawling up the sides of the garbage can. I just left them there- I figured better to blame their death on the trash man then on me. I think I finally have it under control, that, or I've scared them all off or they are plotting a huge uprising against me when I least expect it.
Warfare, ambushes, mayhem, murder, --you can see things are pretty darn exciting here at home! :) Now I'm sure y'all would prefer to read about something other than slimy snails- so post some cute photos of the grandkids (Gary & Kristal) or some wild adventures from college (Marty and Michael--remember soon you'll be home and be doomed to serve on the snail patrol yourselves--summer vacay doesn't get much more exciting than that! Hmmm- give Marty a carton of salt and some snails and he could be busy all summer! )
So hope to hear from you soon- till then I'll put my Xena armour on and head outside to greet the snails!
Kathy,
ReplyDeleteIn days gone by, Mom, just like you, would declare war on the snails who dared to munch on her precious begonias. I would have to buy "Bugetta" at Lowe's. There's a whole science to placing the bait at just the right moment (at dawn, just before the dew sets when the moon is full or something just about that ridiculous) It did work, I believe, or at least Mom thought it did. Did you try it?
Good luck, but my question is how on earth can you find those slimy, nasty critters cute? Yuck!
I think that this is very exciting to read about...no matter what I post, and how cute the pictures may be, I could never write with such enthusiasm as you! Good luck with your snail war Xena!
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