2 weeks Ago By Alex Evans
Gardeners who have slug pellets in their shed have been issued a legal warning about using them following a change in the law. They have long been used by gardeners as a means of pest control in the endless struggle against slugs and snails every year. This year's wet summer was particularly bad for slug and snail numbers and the devastating impact they had on our summer crops, but this autumn and winter is when their populations explode all over again as colder, wetter weather becomes the norm and the molluscs lay eggs to hatch next spring.
But gardeners are being warned that they could be breaking the law if they keep certain slug pellets in their shed following a law change in 2022. Slug pellets with a chemical called metaldehyde were banned in the UK in 2022. Not only is it illegal to use them, it’s illegal to even store or keep the banned slug pellets, as well as to supply them or sell them.
Anyone with slug pellets is being urged to check the bottle and throw away the product if it contains metaldehyde because it was in some products sold before 2022. On top of that, gardeners are being urged to report any seller still selling metaheldyde slug pellets to their local council. The pellets were banned due to being toxic to birds and hedgehogs, not just slugs.
Slug predators eat the slugs and snails and indirectly ingest the poison themselves, and it can cause the important and increasingly endangered species of hedgehods and birds to be killed by accident. As Hedgehog Street explains: “Metaldehyde is a molluscicide, meaning it is used to eradicate slugs and snails, usually from gardens and farmland. The substance can, however, also cause harm to birds and mammals through direct ingestion or consumption of contaminated molluscs.
“Although slugs don’t form a large part of a hedgehog’s natural diet, the effects of this product have long been a concern. We therefore welcome this change and continue to encourage organic gardening.”.
