WHY DO SLUGS HATE SALT?

Growing up in a humid and moist climate, I have always known what most insect like to eat or suck on. Take for instance Mosquitos. They like to feed on blood, and ants like to eat sugar, and fly’s…well they will devour anything! But I have always wondered why slugs hate salt. As a child I used to sprinkle salt on slugs and they would disappear within moments by foaming. Why is that? Today I plan to solve the problem as to why slugs hate salt.

Hypothesis If I pour salt on a garden slug, then foaming will happen.

Materials Slug Table Salt Flashlight

Procedure Go out in your garden at night with a flash light and a salt shaker. Examine your plants that have holes eaten into them. Find the slugs, pluck them off of the plant and shake a little bit of salt on them.

Results/Data I put together a simple survey on how to kill slugs. My data included ingredients such as salt, commercial product, egg shells, beer trap and citrus rinds. I interviewed by phone family members and friends across the country. I wanted to find out if they used different methods other than salt to kill slugs. I found it interesting that the men used beer to trap slugs! Phone interviews with: Carolyn/Dallas TX, Pamela/Tampa Bay FL, Terry/Montclair NJ, Aunt Maude/Utica NY, Peaches/Brookline MA, Lois/Sag Harbor NY, Patricia/Dorchester MA, Robyn/ Wheatly Heights, NY, Joanie/Seattle WA, Willow/Queens NY, Jimmy/ Stone Mt. GA, Yvonne/San Antonio TX, Mattie/Rockledge FL, Roxie/Burlington MA, Jeremy/Austin TX, Debra/Westbury NY, and Aaron/ Ypsilanti MI.

Conclusion If I pour salt on a garden slug, then foaming will happen. It’s a well-known fact that slugs and salt simply don’t mix. When the two come into contact, the slug’s life expectancy is rapidly diminished to a few seconds. The slug contains a lot of water, which is essential for its survival. Sprinkling with salt draws that water out, and the poor creature dies of dehydration.

Another yucky science production!