The cells basically deflate to nothing and die because of the concentration imbalance can never be corrected before the slug dies. Do slugs feel pain when you put salt on them? Or even worse, the live ones in Asian grocery stores that squirt at innocent passersby? They are in a hypertonic solution and then osmosis is occurring to balance the salt concentration inside and outside the slug. Quick little science video on why snails and slugs die when you put salt on them! The Seattle slugs (and boy, wouldn’t that make a great name for a baseball team?) Is it true that if you pour salt on garden slugs they will dehydrate … and scream? Every graduation the 500-odd graduates solemnly sing the geoduck fight song, written by ex-reference librarian extraordinaire Malcolm Stilson: “Five hundred-odd graduates,” eh? Online shopping from a great selection at Digital Music Store. Yes! Thank you. Janet Yellen becomes 1st female treasury secretary The answer is yes and no. dear god what kind of monster would do that? Do slugs scream when you put salt on them? Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. How did some crime fiction come to be described as “hard-boiled”? It depends on the method of application. A STAFF REPORT FROM THE STRAIGHT DOPE SCIENCE ADVISORY BOARD. The slime absorbs water, keeping them moist - slugs never quite left the sea, you see. Slugs breath out of their pours,and salt clogs the pours. Slugs are very damaging garden pests that can be found throughout the country, most likely in moist and humid climates. Slugs do have a simple protective reaction system, but they don't scream when salt is poured on them . hide. Q. Slugs need to be saturated in order to survive. This is actually the only answer a 5 year old would probably understand in this thread. report. How often do you put salt on your food? The slugs drink the beer, pass out, and drown. This thread is archived. A better method of dealing with the slug menace is to put out a pie tin filled with a half inch of beer. I have never known why, I ask my friends and they don't know either, it would be very helpful if I could get an answer. -Who figured out salt kills slugs, I mean who was the crazyass fool running round pouring salt on slugs in the first place? Hope you enjoy! Slugs depend on being very moist to survive, and if they lose that moisture they die. It’s true that slugs will dehydrate if you pour salt on them, although I must say that the thought of standing there watching while the slug shrivels up seems uniquely unappetizing. Is it something in their body, or is it something that happens to all molluscs? Our teams — soccer, skiing, swimming — are called the Evergreen Geoducks. Imagine, if you will, hiking up the steep slop of Mt. In an era of national homogenization it is amazing to discover the rich variety of crawling things that infests the different corners of the U.S. I think it has something to do with the sliminess. Or maybe it’s the hiss of desiccating slug fluids. It started writhing in what I can only imagine to be terrible pain or discomfort. But does it really help? Hordes of these creatures can descend on your garden and eat all your lettuce overnight. The salt absorbs the moisture out of the slug’s body, killing it. This last one in particular has been a real eye-opener. I myself was once a patient at the University of Oregon health center when I damaged my knee by falling off my bike, having run over a slug — I was slimed right off the path. Tonight I spent the evening by myself off my face in my garden sprinkling salt on slugs..as you do. I went inside, got salt, and poured it on him. The salt absorbs a lot of the water from their bodies and makes them dry up, thus killing them. For this reason, slugs create a protective mucous that surrounds their body and holds in their moisture. This is because salt uses the osmosis that slugs depend on to dehydrate them and suck the water out of their body. Now, how to kill the little buggers. Basically, you go out in your garden in the dark of night, armed with a flashlight and a salt shaker. They writhe in pain and agony until they finally die. I once melted 178 in my front yard alone. So many that you can't take a step without stepping on them? My alma mater, Evergreen State College of Olympia, Washington, claims the geoduck as its mascot. You are rapidly dehydrating (and essentially burning) them by doing this, and of course, it hurts. ELI5: Why do slugs die from salt? Believe me, I know. One day in the 1930s some campers in South Africa left a can of metaldehyde out all night and awoke to discover it surrounded by recently deceased slugs and snails. One find geoducks in Seattle markets — they are quite a delicacy — with the massive neck, six to eight inches long and yellowish in color, hanging out of the shell like a giant uncircumcised penis. so the slug dies of suffocation. But it was Paul O.’s comments about geoducks — those phallic mollusks found only in Puget Sound — that prompted me to write. When you put salt on them? Supposedly there are even slug cookbooks. (Or so they tell me. A very large (four by seven inches) clam found in Puget Sound, the geoduck has a crude phallus of a neck that is a source of endless wonderment to visiting back-eastern swells such as yourself. Cell membranes are a semi-permiable membrane, which means only water can cross it. Do you have a favorite way to get slugs out of your garden? Why do slugs die from salt? Aha, said the campers, slugicide! If you use enough salt, the slug will lose so much water that it dehydrates, dies, and winds up looking pretty shriveled. Picking slugs by hand is probably the least environmentally damaging method of eradication. The best of The Straight Dope, delivered to your inbox. Best Answers. Nevertheless, many gardeners still use salt in their gardens. This is what happens when you put salt on a slug. “A deterrent,” she muttered darkly when I questioned her about this grisly spectacle. Son tipped off FBI about dad, charged in riot. It will be tremendously painful the entire time that they are dying. But enough of this scare talk. What is the origin of the song “There’s a place in France/Where the naked ladies dance?” Are bay leaves poisonous. Does a dripping faucet keep the pipes from freezing? Hope you enjoy! No. Salt is known for being very good at removing moisture from cells, so when you combine salt and slugs, you have a dried slug. 50% Upvoted. Many bacteria can grow just fine in saline, especially those that cause disease in people. But enough of this scare talk. It's something the body actively does, probably to improve your ability to grip things when the fingers are wet. Story time! Highly dependent to moisture, slugs move in a forward glide that leaves a trail of slime. Previously I had always thought of Seattle as charming — but no more. Have you seen a garden invaded by slugs? The salt will draw the water out of the slug … Humans can handle salt without the … However, the slugs don’t scream, for the simple reason that they don’t have any vocal apparatus. I’ll say. I like that spirit. As a former Seattleite, I feel obligated to straighten you out in the slug department: (1) Elma, not Montesano, is the home of the infamous slug races; (2) four to five inches long is only average; (3) slugs aren’t just brownish white, but come in a rainbow of colors, including green with yellow spots; (4) while some slugs will fall for the ol’ beer-in-the-pie-tin trick, salting is much more effective. But it would probably be washed away every time it rains. Plus, I can hardly figure out their face. Cell membranes are a semi-permiable membrane, which means only water can cross it. As for salt, some say it is extremely cruel, a feature that undoubtedly makes it more attractive to many. The slugs hang over the edge and sip at the beer, but very few have ever fallen in. Then he runs back and forth over them with the car. You can help to keep your garden slug free by using these 5 simple ways to getting rid of slugs along with hand picking them. One time i saw a giant slug the size of a big poo i told my house mates about it and they said "just put salt on it something funny happens" and i said "wat" they said "come see" but the problem is they might explode or something so please would u tell wat they do when we put salt on them yeah they do my mum used to pour salt on them when i was little and they do scream its awful i just leave slugs now as its cruel and torturous to hear that sound and did u know frogs scream … A few slugs even grow up to become cartoonists for famous newspapers, increasing their power to wreak havoc a thousandfold. How many mysterious hiking deaths could be explained by merely checking the spot on the trail from which the deceased fell for the telltale silver splotch? Instead, I would run around screaming or may be, I will stand there staring at them, feeling disturbed. Pouring salt on slugs as a way to kill them, however, can be detrimental to garden soil and plants. 2 1. Explain Like I'm Five is the best forum and archive on the internet for layperson-friendly explanations. Slugs don't "melt" when salt is poured on them; they simply dry out. If they are in your fish tak or pond, select a fairly heavy lettuce leaf, run hot tap water over it to wilt it a bit, or just leave it on the counter to wilt an hour or so, then clip or weight it down in the tank, preferably just before lights-out. Its the same idea why if you are lost at sea you don't drink the salt water. If you live in an area where that is prone to happen, you have to stop the problem early. While the lush and glorious environment of western Washington State does indeed produce many species of the wily slug, Puget Sound’s greatest natural wonder is the obscene geoduck (pronounced GOO-ee-duck). The trail is at an 80 degree angle. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast. House delivers article of impeachment against Trump. W hen eating ears of corn, do you make "salt + pepper butter" to roll them in, or do you put it on a pat (or so) at a time, and sprinkle salt + pepper on them? What is the least toxic way to rid my garden of slugs? No, wait, FOCUS! Some say that slugs are a leading cause of death in Seattle, owing to the fact that so many people are grossed out of existence. Why are the police called cops, pigs, or the fuzz? True, there are slugs in other parts of the country. And then there are the ebony cannibal slugs of Mt. It also happens to frogs if I'm not mistaken. Slugs have always given me an icky feeling. On the other hand … well, maybe you can just learn to love ’em. Charming behavior which I hope was not genetically transmitted to my children. My question is, why would you want to put salt on a slug? (Remember that scene in The Wizard of Oz, the one where the witch melts? But the main disadvantage is this: if you salt or otherwise chemically attack slugs, they dump all their slime in their death throes — years’ worth at once! You can also use a miracle slug killer called metaldehyde, which was originally developed as a solid fuel for camp cookstoves. A slug secretes slime that allows it to eat, move, and function. This is the correct answer. for example if I was to create a circle out of salt and put a snail in the middle, would it act like a prison? Please share it with us in the comment section below. The ocean is very salty, and crazy full of microorganisms. Why do slugs melt when you put salt on them? Suddenly, in front of your nose, appears a huge (we’re talking nine inches) yellow-green phallic object, glistening obscenely in the feeble light. If you pour salt on garden slugs, do they shrivel up and scream? No doubt what you hear is your own guilty conscience, which is tormenting you for destroying God’s creatures. The beer-in-the-tuna-can method has never been at all effective for me. I once entered the yard of a neighbor and found eight or ten slugs, impaled on a shish kebab skewer, writhing upright in her garden. Rainier who devour one another along trailside. I agree that salt poured directly on them kills them. There are those who regard this as tragic evidence of the effect of excessive rainfall on the human psyche, but who knows, maybe you could get into it. ELI15: This process is osmosis. newsletter. They may turn up in your driveway, your flower box, even — yuck — your basement, leaving a telltale trail of slime behind. 2 comments. Search your plants that have had tell-tale holes eaten into them. I did not stick around long enough to see this actually demonstrated.) Quite creepy, eh! Same idea.) He seemed to recover well enough. However, the slugs don't scream, for the simple reason that … If it is put on water, the water is drawn into the salt. Not a sight one soon forgets. You can also add salt to plants that seem to be slug favorites. Geese and skunks alone among members of the animal kingdom are said to eat slugs, and some keep them for this purpose. Quick little science video on why snails and slugs die when you put salt on them! If so, would an octopus die if you put salt on one? Find the slugs, and as you find them, pluck them off the plant and shake just a tad bit of salt on them. Basically the cells of the slug contain a salt water solution, and pouring salt on the snail will raise the concentration of the salt water outside of the cells. How did “nuts” and “bananas” come to mean “crazy”? Allow me these few comments: First of all, I concur: slugs are repellent beyond any other life form. So can you make them "pop" by putting them in distilled water? PS: Geoducks are too disgusting even to comment on. Slugs flinch when they just knock their eye stalks into something, but have you seen how a slug reacts when salt is poured on them? Yes, salt will kill a slug. My husband, to prove himself manly, has used the following method: he picks them up with his bare hands (geeklike behavior, in my opinion), and when they roll up in a ball (the burnt sienna-and-orange variety that plague my yard change shape from banana to papaya when attacked), he hurls them out into the street. However, the slugs don’t scream, for the simple reason that they don’t have any vocal apparatus. I've always wondered why it kills them. To my thinking, the spectacle is too revolting to endure. The pruny fingers isn't even a reaction to the salt or the water. The kind that doesn't want snails eating their vegetable garden crops. There are the legendary palmetto bugs of Florida, the killer mosquitoes of Minnesota, and now the giant slugs of Seattle. Now I know that beneath those mountains and trees there lies a seething chamber of horrors. Your garden is likely to have more slugs during a particularly rainy season. I don’t know, and I don’t want to know. This is perhaps the most unpleasant way to kill them. Slugs gather water around them to hydrate themselves, and if the water is removed, the slug cannot survive. However, you can also use grapefruit rinds to catch the pests. I’m told that the town of Montesano, Washington, has an annual slug festival, in which the locals dress up the slugs in little costumes and have slug races. The concentrations of the inside and outside solutions want to be the same, so water will passively leave the cell, diluting the outside solution, while the inside of the cell loses water and shrinks. So I took my glass of water and washed him off thoroughly a few seconds later. I thought they used saline solutions because you need an isotonic solution wrt the body fluids, not because it kills bacteria. Very clever. How do I know this? As a native Seattleite on a two-year pitstop in D.C. Don't read any of the other uneducated guesses below. Take the subject of regional vermin, for instance. The stuff is ineradicable and you are stuck with a yard full of repulsive silvery slime globules. save. Slugs are described as slimy creatures of nature that many people find to be rather disgusting. If people get upset about porno in 7-Elevens, why do they ignore the spectacle of geoducks at Safeway? Do snails/slugs know not to move over salt? But some people will argue that this is not a humane way to get rid of them. Cecil loves fielding calls on the radio, because they enable him to keep his finger on the throbbing pulsebeat of America, disgusting though that experience can occasionally be. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast, More posts from the explainlikeimfive community. As for slugs, squishing one between bare toes while walking in the post-sunset cool of a Seattle evening is unquestionably the grossest experience on earth. None of that is correct. Many people recommend using salt against slugs and snails in the garden. If you sprinkle slugs and snails with salt, it will bind their body fluids and their bodies will dissolve slowly. Since slugs hide in moist, dark areas during the day, place the skins upside down and check them for slugs daily. And It got me thinking a large amount of questions some of which include: -Why do they shrivel up and melt/die when we put salt on them? Baker. Well i ABSOLUTELY hate slugs they r so gross and slimy. When I was like 10 or 11 I had heard a lyric in a Weird Al song "we just poured salt on snails!" Sign up for the It’s true that slugs will dehydrate if you pour salt on them, although I must say that the thought of standing there watching while the slug shrivels up seems uniquely unappetizing. I'm trying to picture you saying exactly this to a 5 year old lol. Find answers now! Imagine, all the worse, stepping on the aforementioned abomination! Did you mean to post in r/shittyaskscience? My thanks to Tamara K. for clearing up the matter of slugs. share. How could you think of addressing the slug question without consulting your faithful Seattle correspondent?

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