Safety
Bio Slug & Snail Killer
Benefits:
- Effective
- Fast acting
- Blue coloured pellets in a handy scatter cap pack for easy accurate application time after time.
Several natural options can provide a degree of free slug control, the most effective are recommended in the Other tactics. However Slug pellets, used correctly, are still the most effective in the war against them. And despite the fact that over 400 billion pellets are sprinkled each year, there are still many unsubstantiated fears about their safety. Any gardener that uses slug pellets will point out that it is perfectly possible to achieve a good level of control using pellets like Bio Slug & Snail Killer and have a garden teeming with wildlife. This is because the pellets are specially formulated with only 3% metaldehyde which means that a large number of pellets would have to be eaten to have any effect on non-target species.
Furthermore, good quality pellets also contain bitrex and animal repellent to prevent accidental consumption and are coloured blue, a colour specifically shown to discourage birds eating them.When choosing a slug pellet look out for great features like the handy scatter cap on Bio Slug & Snail Killer which makes accurate, application of just the right amount of pellets, easy. Look out for the Meta quality logo - your guarantee of quality.
And remember that when pellets are scattered thinly on the ground, it really is extremely difficult for pets, children or wildlife to consume enough to cause harm. So when using pellets always follow The Slug Pellet Code.
Below is more evidence about slug pellet safety relating to specific wildlife:
Seed Feeding Birds
Slug pellets were often
blamed for the fall in bird
numbers like Sparrow and
Thrushes. Wildlife research
now shows the causes are
often linked to loss of habitat
and there is no link to slug
pellets at all.
Bio Slug and Snail Killer pellets will not harm seed feeding birds such as house sparrows. Research has shown that birds are not attracted to pellets when other food sources are available*. Even when Sparrows have no food they still aren't tempted to eat slug pellets.
Bio Slug & Snail Killer has a slug pellet code, promoting wise use of pellets, welcomed by the RSPB. Click here to see The Slug Pellet Code.
*The house sparrow tests were carried out in September 2004 at the Central Science Laboratory in York.
Hedgehog, frogs & toads
Many other animals, such as frogs, toads and hedgehogs also feast on slugs. Research indicates that they rarely eat dead slugs but in any event, so called ‘metaldehyde-poisoned slugs’ have been shown not to be harmful if eaten. Tests have also shown that other beneficial organisms, such as carabid beetles, ants, spiders and earthworms will be unaffected by the use of slug pellets. Metaldehyde breaks down into harmless components such as water and carbon dioxide in the environment and does not have a cumulative effect in the food chain.
Research has shown that if used in accordance with manufacturers instructions metaldehyde pellets like Bio Slug & Snail Killer pose little risk to healthy hedgehogs*.
*The study is an officially approved monitoring test of the German Federal Biological Institution at Munster (BBA Munster, Germany) and took place in 1996