Elsa watches the hogs

Elsa has been out in the garden after dark again. I think she enjoys watching the hedgehogs as much as I do. Trouble is, she tends to follow them, and I don't think the hogs know what to make of her. The hog in the above photos was hiding by the courgettes. (And I wish I'd seen those slugs at the time!)

Giant sunflowers just about to open

The blooms on these two giant sunflowers are just beginning to open up. I've had lots of sunflowers this year, but for some reason these particular two have grown very tall. The one on the left of the photo was just a few inches shy of 10 foot tall (3 metres) when I measured it yesterday.

Each evening when I nip out into the garden to check on the hedgehogs' food supplies I will often take a torch and go on a slug patrol. Those blasted things seem to love munching on my sunflowers, and you'll notice some leaf damage in the photo above.

Yes, hedgehogs are supposed to eat slugs, but it seems that slug-eating is a last resort. They far prefer other foodstuffs, such as those that I have been providing in the garden for over a year now, e.g. mealworms, unsalted peanuts, sunflower hearts, sultanas, and Spike's Dinner brand hedgehog food or Iams cat food (chicken flavour). You might say, "stop providing food and the hedgehogs will eat the slugs", but I fear that they might not visit the garden at all if I didn't put food and water out for them. I am trying to encourage the hedgehogs, after all they are now classified as an endangered species.

As to slug repellents, I have tried barriers of gel (too easily washed away), gravel, broken eggshells, etc. It seems that a determined slug will always find a way. The one thing I must stress, however, is that one should NEVER use slug pellets. If a hedgehog eats a slug poisoned by slug pellets, then the hedgehog will be poisoned in turn.

Yes, slugs are a nuisance but it you use slug pellets in an effort to control them you could be assisting in the decline of that truly unique and delightful wild animal, the hedgehog.

Say NO to slug pellets!

ABOVE: I took this photo last week through the backdoor window (5 May 2009)

This weekend I spent quite some time out in the garden planting out some of my sunflowers. Most of them I'd put into containers, but not having enough pots and troughs I decided I had to plant some straight into the ground (having first put some compost down, of course).

The trouble with planting sunflowers straight into the ground is that the slugs love 'em, and are adept at destroying them.

I've put a slug-repellent gel on the ground around the plants as I refuse to use slug pellets. Slug pellets are bad news and should be banned! They are poisonous to the slugs (obviously), but the big problem is that our friend the hedgehog comes along, eats the poisoned slug and then gets poisoned itself. Which we do not want.

So please do not use slug pellets, use hedgehog-friendly slug repellent only, and pass the message on!