So...the slugs have been really doing a number on some of my perennial plants this year (primarily the creeping phlox, tall garden phlox, and columbine - all of which are, of course, listed as being plants slugs don't like. haha...although I'm convinced whoever added those to the list of plants slugs avoid had weird mutant slugs with strange tastes...as the slugs in my gardens find these 3 to be all-time favorites! they also seem to be found a lot on the lavender and the dianthus pinks in my gardens...additional plants listed as being unsavory for the little slimglobs...so I don't believe those "slug deterrent plants" lists, for obvious reasons.

Anyway, I'm not a fan of killing them (I know, I know! I'm very aware and understanding of people who choose to kill them off...just not for me)...I actually find them pretty cute (as long as they don't try sliming me!) and as a living creature I believe they have more a right to be around than I do. My gardens cover a VERY large portion of the property, so items like copper around everything, or those wool slug-gone deterrent pellets, coffee grounds, etc...are just not an option since I'm not a millionaire who can afford to buy such large quantities. I've also tried things like soap-free brillo-pads wrapped around the stems of their favorite plants and even buried into the ground a little and rising up a good inch+..but with no luck at all. plants like creeping phlox are almost impossible to do that to though.

I recently started doing nighttime catch-and-release adventures (every night for about 9 so far...relocating them to either a local woodsy park a few minutes walk away or to the very back of my property which is very woodsy also..as well as occupied by raccoons, opossums, and other natural slug predators.. ) and I definitely notice a big difference already as with each night I'm catching fewer and fewer (the first few nights I had well over 130 per container with 2-3 containers being relocated per night...all at 1-3am-ish and YES, I'm sure my neighbors are officially certain I'm a nut job) and the ones I am catching are getting smaller and smaller....BUT does anyone know if the slugs will eventually travel back to the gardens? I did find one study that says something about moving them 20 meters and they won't come back, but I can't find anything else.

Obviously, I know that slugs that aren't currently in my gardens may eventually move in (I am working on a solution to that but again, with gardens that run every property line, driveway line, walkway line and fenceline of most of my property it's tough to surround them all) but will the hundreds of slugs I've relocated migrate back and reappear in a week or two or three?

Anyone else try relocating and find a good longer term result? I'd be fine even having to do a mid-night harvest once every week or so as long as the population remained fairly low.