Very present in our gardens currently, slugs generally attack our plants, but they also represent a danger for our vehicles.
The last few weeks have been particularly rainy and slugs, delighted by all this humidity, have multiplied in our gardens, just like snails. If they are not dangerous for humans, but a little invasive on our lawns, these shellless gastropods can also be harmful to… cars!
According to the Dutch-speaking daily Nieuwsblad, several electric car charging stations in Belgium were damaged. As Dirk Steyvers, spokesperson for Electric by D’Ieteren, a company specializing in electric vehicle charging stations, confirmed, Spanish slugs, an invasive subspecies, have been attracted by the smell of some products present in the electrical cables of the terminals.
In fact, it is the slime of the slugs that would be the cause. The latter would have multiplied on these cables and the ions contained in the slime of the gastropods caused a short circuit in the terminals. However, there is no reason to panic if you have a charging station at home, because these cases are rare and would be linked to poor installation of cable glands, sealing parts used to secure the entrances cables in their electrical envelope.
That being said, if you notice that slugs are particularly numerous in your garden not far from your garage and your charging station, you can try to drive them away by installing natural barriers made up of crushed eggshells, ash , cocoa pods, hemp, linen flakes, coffee grounds or even pine needles. You can also buy plastic or copper barriers commercially. Finally, to trap them, you can install bait made of pieces of grapefruit, melon or potato in your garden. The slugs will gather there and you just have to remove them in the morning. Finally, last solution, manual collection! In the evening or early morning, walk through your garden and collect slugs by hand.