When my neighbor had a flock of ducks, I would trade slugs “fished“ from the yard for duck eggs. The ladies loved the free range, organic, high-protein supplements, and I loved their eggs.
It’s pretty simple and clean to catch slugs with a Ball jar. Set the lip of the jar next to one and flip it in with the lid, and your fingers stay clean. They leave their hiding places after sunset, when all good ducks are sleeping. I learned quickly to add a few dandelion greens to the loosely-sealed jar so they would not snack overnight on each other.
It’s poison-free, and it is effective. In order to maintain a daily supply, I had to leave at least half of the slugs I saw on any given night. Taking all of them over three nights meant zero sightings for the following two nights, and only tiny, immature ones for a few days after that.
The only part of adapting this to wild birds that strikes me as at all difficult is figuring out how to get them to the table for a gourmet meal of “slug under glass“. Please be sure to let us know how it goes if you try this!
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