Dear Editor:
I’m a student at John Black Public School in Fergus. There’s a problem with garden snails in our community. Garden snails are an invasive species in Fergus and the rest of Ontario. They lay up to 80 white eggs at one time, however they lay them in soil so it’s hard to find them and crush them. They also can reproduce without mates as they have both male and female reproductive parts.
Snails attack seedlings, roots, tubers and young plants; this leaves holes in the leaves and snail slime on the veggies they go across. Their slime may carry diseases like e-coli and other dangerous bacteria. You can use baits and traps to catch them to use to then get rid of them. You can kill the snails with salt, chemicals and pesticides.
If you see a snail you should pick them up and check them for diseases. If they have none then you should put them in a one gallon tank and water them everyday. You should also feed them vegetable scraps and crushed up eggshells or cuttlebone for protein.
Alex Polsterer,
Fergus