How to Identify Slug and Snail Eggs in Your Garden

Slugs and snails gradually chew away plants, sometimes killing them. Fortunately, they are easy to control. Identifying snail and slug eggs helps you catch the problem before it becomes too severe.

What Do Slug and Snail Eggs Look Like?

Slug and snail eggs look much alike. Creamy-white, yellow, clear, or opaque, they are oval-shaped and usually about 1/8-inch in diameter. They are laid in clusters of 20 to 30 or as many as 100.

The eggs are laid in a gelatinous mass, usually in dark, damp places. They are prevalent in compost piles, soil, under pots or trays, and bags.

When you compress a slug or snail egg, it will squash and flatten. It will not pop or emit fluid.

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How Slugs and Snails Harm Your Garden

Slugs and snails feed on plants. A mild infestation may only affect the appearance of the plants. However, a severe infestation can impact the health of the plants, especially with young plants and seedlings. The output of fruit- and vegetable-bearing plants can be reduced.

Slugs and snails like to feed on:

• Beans
• Broccoli
• Daffodils
• Hosta
• Lettuce
• Primroses
• Strawberries

How to Tell If You Have Slugs and Snails

Slugs and snails move slowly, but they can still be evasive and hard to spot. You’ll know that you have slugs and snails by their presence, but more often by evidence like plant damage and mucus trails.

Presence

Slugs range from 1/4-inch to 2 inches long and are gray or brown. Snails have a coiled brown, gray, yellow, white, or blue coiled shell. 

Slugs and snails are found more at night than during the day. When it’s light, they hide in the shade. They like to stick to vertical places like trees, fences, or rocks.

Mucus Trails

Slugs and snails leave slime or mucus trails that look shiny after they dry. The mucus trails are usually found on flat surfaces but sometimes they are seen on plant leaves.

Plant Damage

 With sharp teeth, they gnaw away at leaves, flowers, and fruit, leaving holes and ragged ends. The chew marks are irregular. They chew both the ends and the middle parts of the leaves.

How to Get Rid of Slugs and Snails

With many natural methods to choose from, you don’t need poison to get rid of slugs and snails.

Remove by Hand

Wearing waterproof gloves, pick the slugs and snails off of the plants by hand. You’ll find them on and under leaves or around rocks and fallen limbs. Drop them in a bucket of soapy water to kill them.

Trap Them

Lay out flat pieces of wood, roofing shingles, or cardboard to attract the slugs and snails. Early each morning, check under the traps. Hand-pick the slugs and snails and drop them in soapy water.

Dispose of Them

Bury plastic buckets in the ground to the rim. Fill the buckets to 1 inch below the rim with beer or one teaspoon of yeast mixed with three ounces of water.

Slugs and snails are attracted to the odor of fermentation and will fall into the buckets. Strain out the buckets every morning and change the mixture once a week.

How to Prevent Slugs and Snails

Once you’ve eliminated slugs and snails from your garden, prevent them from returning by removing their hiding places and creating barriers.

• Eliminate hiding areas: Remove flat, wet materials in the control zone that attract slugs and snails. 
• Create copper fences: Add a perimeter of copper foil around the garden. The copper produces a mild shock that deters slugs and snails.
• Add coarse materials: Add borders of diatomaceous earth, sawdust, gravel, lime, or sand. Coarse, dry substances cause slugs and snails to exhaust themselves before they reach the garden. 
• Introduce predators: Encourage predators like snakes, decollete snails, beetles, fireflies, turtles, and ducks. Predators feed on slugs and snails.