01-31-2015, 04:43 AM
This is one of the things in Puna that can't be controlled, only managed. We do get the occasional slug but the chickens are unrelenting slug hunters. The rare slug that is spotted is quickly fought over, torn to pieces, and consumed. In the last few months the large snails have for the first time been showing up in our section of Orchidland. Unlike slugs, the chickens have to be trained to eat them. This is a process that we are just beginning. I'm not sure if turning the snails over or smashing them is the best way to present them to the chickens. Does anybody have any experience with this?
The rats are the real problem vector. We haven't had any luck with traps and since rats are only active at night the dogs get few of them. Poison is difficult to use because risk to non target species. We recently purchased one of the bait stations that hold the bait inside, but the rats so far have been avoiding them.
The rats are the real problem vector. We haven't had any luck with traps and since rats are only active at night the dogs get few of them. Poison is difficult to use because risk to non target species. We recently purchased one of the bait stations that hold the bait inside, but the rats so far have been avoiding them.