Toads eat slugs. Raccoon and possums. Not sure about skunks.
Pam

...ken...

Wait...Ken eats slugs?? and Don is holding Ken???

Now Don, that is one scary toad!

I went out in the wild last year and found some tadpoles, which I then brought back and raised to become froglets. I thought they would help in the garden. I think they all hopped away. I'm not sure why, since my yard is a jungle and everyone else on the block just has grass and an occasional shrub. Now every night I hear their children singing but none seem to be in my yard.

Lainey

Some birds.
Eastern Blue Jays, for one.

Fireflies (Lightning bugs)
They lay their eggs on the slimy creatures and when they hatch, the larvae consume their host!

OMG Don!!!!!

That isn;t one of those toads you lick is it? That one might just give me nightmares.....

Alexa

ME!!!

baww haa haa ha haaaaaaaa

ken

OMG! And here I thought I was going to learn something! LOLOL... I've never seen slugs this bad before. Need that toad...

That is one huge Toad. Do you think that a natural way to eradicate slugs could be to have a few toad houses in the garden?
Daniel

According to a farmer I know, chickens love them! I need to find some toads!

hint

don't kiss ken ... he's already a prince

shrews!

That toad & following confusion cracked me up! Good one, you all.

Lainey, ducks love slugs & do a better job at it than chickens, also they don't harm much foliage or scratch in things.

Two birds I see eating slugs in my garden are the thrush and the wren. The thrush tends to be a shy bird but puts up with me quite well. He creates quite a flury throwing aside debris looking for slugs. The wren . . well, shy is not in one bone of his body. . lol. I call him the spry bubbly brown bird. . He loves insects and will eat slugs, too. As his brood gets more demanding I see him feeding more and more slugs to his babies. I have twenty five or so small wren houses hanging from trees in my garden and he is not shy about moving in. Some times I see one male keep two females. The houses were rather close together in these cases. The naughty boy really feed slugs to those clutches. I suppose because the slugs were easier to find an a shorter time?? After his brood is raised I clean out the house and another male starts bragging to the ladies about that house. . and the beat goes on. . lol They really are entertaining birds. He chooses the house and places a few small sticks in it. When the female settles on the male she immediately throws out all his sticks and puts her own sticks in. Sometimes I get little gardening done watching the comedy of those little birds putting large sticks into small holes. . lol
Put out a wren house and you will have a male show up almost immediately.
Also, I have clay pots made into toad houses all around my garden. I have tons of toads and frogs and they do a dandy job, too.

Sidney--loved your post--can you show us a pic. of your toad houses?

I have tons of bird houses in my yard--sort of a hobby of mine to design them uniquely and make them
and all I get are sparrows! I once read you should have no more than 3 houses per acre to avoid
collecting sparrows but on 1/2 acre--I'm WAY maxed out! I find wrens living in the top of clay pots that
were left standing on a high shelf on the outside work area of our garage, though!!

The Wrens and Chickadees are most favorite birds because they are perky and bold!!!

Good news that Wrens love slugs!!!

Sidney, I didn't know that wrens don't mind nesting close together. Must put up more wren houses!

Don, good gravy... what a magnificent toad!

Lainey, I think some pesticides - maybe slugicides? - bother toads and frogs, not sure, but might that explain why your frogs all ran away to neighbors' yards?

Does ChocolateIs2B8 still post any more? She kept chickens and ducks in her hostas and could tell us all which are the better slug-hunters. Unfortunately, I have foxes (and neighbors) so neither chickens nor ducks will work out for me. Besides, duck poop is a slippery hazard... I'm so glad the local wild geese don't hang out in my yard.

We don't use chemicals on our yard, but the neighbors do, and so we celebrate whenever we find a toad or toadlet.

You might remember last year, I asked if anyone knew of a painless way to terminate slugs (painless for the slugs, that is), and everyone here thought I was nuts. I went over and asked the Mad Scientists group, and they didn't have any ideas either.

Lisa. . . Oh, the wrens are territorial all right. .I just put up a bunch of houses and let them decide who housed where. It seems to me that their territory gets smaller with the increase of wren population. I have tons of wrens existing together. The males who choose to have a couple "wives" keep them close together. In a hosta garden there is always plenty for the dinner table so they are happy. I do place several water baths around though. Now the bluebirds are a different story. . I have one in the northeast side of the house, one behind the barn, and one in my main hosta garden. . the males will kill each other if they push a territory. I haven't seen a bluebird feed a slug. . but it is possible they do. I have seen the wrens do it and with fervor and frequency. . .lol
Just make sure you do not bother the wren houses while they are nesting. They will think another bird did it and will go out and poke holes in the eggs of other birds. I learned that the hard way.

Janice, I can do one better. . here are some links I used making my toad houses. . you can go simple or really have fun getting involved. They have some great pictures, too. My grandkids loved it. I had four of my grandkids and my brother bought over three of his for me to watch (that cost him a couple hostas. . lol) I put their energy to work making toad houses. .what fun we had that day. They not only gave me valued toad houses but kept me laughing with lines like, I "toad" you so Robby! It was great fun! Check these links out. . they are short reading and lots of fun and info.
We did not make a house big enough for Don's monster though. . lol

http://www.projectwildlife.org/gardens_toadhouse.htm

http://dnr.wi.gov/org/caer/ce/eek/cool/ameliatoadhouse.htm

http://www.craftygardener.ca/garden15.html

http://hobbies.suite101.com/article.cfm/easy_to_make_toad_houses

http://www.learn2grow.com/projects/forchildren/outdoors/ToadAbode.aspx

http://www.ehow.com/how_2074150_make-toad-house.html

I love this pic and thought of it while reading this thread so I figured I'd share!

OMG, that is one serious looking toad on hosta guard.
Pam

I love that toad! He's thinking, "Here sluggy, sluggy!"

This has been a great discussion. Since I hate to use pesticides, mainly because I have a little dachshund who likes to weave in and out among the hostas, I have ordered a wren house and a toad house. I know the wrens are finished nesting this year, but they still have to eat, don't they? I'll put an ad in their weekly paper, the Wrennaissance Tribune and let them know of the daily feast.

Then I will go on a quest to find a big toad and put him inside the toad house with lots of tasty slugs just outside his door. Perhaps I can convice him to stay if I fix him a little teeny pond in a cool place. I'll have to count on him to eat mosquitos too.

Wish me luck.

Lainey

Lainey . . I still have male wrens advertising for females in my gardens . . I bet you will get a male to move right in and start his bragging. .I love their song. At the very least a male will put a few sticks in your wren house just to let others know it's his house for next year. Long after I clean the houses out in late summer I have to go back and redo the wren houses because the males seem to lay claim on them for the next year. They are very aggressive nesters. My husband made me a few more wren houses the other day. I gave two to my son for his garden. He called and said that he no sooner had both up and a wren moved in the first house. . they are quick to find your house! Nosey little fellas! If you keep a year round mulch pile the toads will burrow in for winter, too.
I love that guard toad pic. . the look on his face is priceless.
He seems to say, I'm the Sluginator. . I eats um fat, I eats um small, I eats um skinny, I eats up tall. . I's the Sluginator!. . lol

I know ducks will eat slugs. We have had them off and on thru the years. They eat non stop rummaging thru the debris under the hostas. All I did was move a little kiddie pool around every few days and they would stay near the pool. If you can stand the poop EVERYWHERE they are fun to have. And to watch.