Carol,

Sorry it has taken me so long to reply. It's been quite a few years since I have done any gardening work in Lakeview, but yes, I do remember having slugs. However, it's not as bad as in some parts of the states and depends on where you're growing plants and what you're growing. I.e. shady, cool gardens may attract more slugs than things grown in full-sun with little moist cover. The slugs were also small - no where near the size of the monster slugs seen on the wet side of the state (i.e. Willamette Valley).

In NE Oregon, where I live now, we still have slugs - also small. Slug bait seems to do really well at controling them. I imagine that limiting the amount of mulch or moist/damp areas that they can hide in would also limit how many of them I have to fight, but mulch also helps conserve moisture in the soil for the plants, so I don't worry about it too much. I also notice that they tend to attack certain plants more than others, so your plant selection will also make a difference. My neighber, an avid gardener, uses slug bait in her flowerbeds with success. I don't worry about it, honestly, and really haven't seen much distruction of my plants due to slugs, although I do see signs that they are around - certainly not what I would call an epidemic.

Hope this helps!

-Erika