Feeding Slugs & Snails to wildlife

[Brisie]

I have lots of information about trapping garden slugs and snails, but having done so I want to feed them to birds and hedgehogs etc. I am now looking for ideas or solutions for suitable feeding arrangements - can anyone help?

[wildone]

Firstly, I think you will need to encourage the birds and hedgies in. If you collect the snails and slugs there is nothing left for the wildlife to want to visit.

wildone

BTW I should have noticed you are a new member and welcomed you to WAB. Trust you will enjoy you stay with us.

[juliejam]

Ive read that a Hedgehogs diet contains a small percentage for slugs but you could say is needed..by watering the planted area in the afternoon the slug come out later ...Then when my little hedgehog pays me a visit for his chicken supper..im hoping he eats up the slugs as well ...the snails are all taken up by the black birds...so try leaving slugs and snails for the wildlife ...or they might go else where...

Julie

[paulchandler6]

I dont feel we need to intervene in what is a natural process of Predators hunting prey. Hedgehogs and Birds need to hunt for their own food as in Slugs and Snails as surely this hones their skills.
Different in months when natural food is scarce and we supplement with various feeds for birds and hedgehogs are hibernating. Cheers

[Paul mabbott]

As everyone else says - it doesn't work that way. Predators take prey by size so you'll only get a few of your molluscs eaten by birds ... and only a few birds at that. Thrushes will eat snails and blackbirds may eat middle-sized slugs. Otherwise small birs will only eat the tiniest molluscs.
So just encourage the birds and also encourage beetles: ground beetles and others eat more small molluscs than birds do!

[Pigtigg]

I have heard that too many slugs in a heggies diet leads to wobbly hedgehog syndrome - I have seen one with this ... its not nice, the hedgehog slowly becomes paralyzed starting with its back legs. I'm all for letting heggie regulate his own sluggie intake!

Dena

[Cotham Marble]

Originally Posted by Brisie

I have lots of information about trapping garden slugs and snails, but having done so I want to feed them to birds and hedgehogs etc. I am now looking for ideas or solutions for suitable feeding arrangements - can anyone help?

Unless you are growing some very susceptible plants, the only species of snail you need to be concerned about is the Common Snail, though most slug species can be a problem.

The difficulty with 'feeding' is others have pointed out is matching the size and number of predator species to the size and volume of prey species. If you think in terms of wildebeast (millions) matched to lions (hundreds) you get some sort of idea how many molluscs there are to birds, hedgehogs etc. in Britain.

Release of your trapped 'pests' in a suitable 'wild' area is the best way to make them available to a range of predators - which may include foxes, badgers, crows and beetles.

If you make sure that the smaller species of snail and some less than full grown slugs have spaces in your garden, then you will still have a potential food source for predators to be attracted to your garden.

If you don't have access to somewhere where you can release the molluscs you've trapped and you don't want to kill them, stick them in a yoghurt pot and put them out with the rubbish for transport to the local landfill where the gulls etc may recycle them.

CM