The high cost of copper sheeting has caused us to look at other options to contain out happy wanderers. Some books say that galvanized iron is successful, but I've seen too many happily living on galvanized iron to believe that one.
We decided to try out miniature electric fences, and the system, powered by solar charged batteries, worked wonderfully well -- when it worked! The constant moisture caused the wire to quickly corrode, so after repeated mendinf of breaks and trying different wires without success, we gave up the battle and let them wander at will, though still contained in the shadehouse.
We now have a 2nd. shadehouse, an improvement on the original, in that we now have more practical than theoretical experience, but are still experimenting with the best ways to do things.
We still have our problems -- specifically, mice, mice and more mice. Mums, dads and babies galore, who laugh at our pathetic attempts to trap them. Who needs a pumpkin seed when there's a whole smorgasbord laid out before them?
Apart from the snails I have 2 dear little dogs and there are many native birds here, so I couldn't use any poison, even if I wanted to, and C.A.L.M advice to bait traps with Peanut Butter had only a limited success. We finally resorted to putting a hose down the hole and flushing out and trying to destroy any lirking mice.
