Val, snails are nocturnal so feed during the night. As dawn approaches, particularly in warm weather, they crawl up walls, fences etc looking for crevices and overhangs in or under which they can shelter and sleep without becoming dehydrated. The surface is generally immaterial as it seems to be a phallacy that they don’t like crawling over rough surfaces. As fish says, dry, absorbant surfaces seem to cause them real discomfort and are a better deterrent. Durnovarian…. blackbirds and thrushes like well planted borders/beds, lots of plants they can hide behind and move around in relative obscurity and out of sight of potential predators. If you plant some shrubs that also grow quite dense and around 6′ to 10′ high, they may also be tempted to nest. When putting out wild bird foods (the more birds you attract, the more chance you have of attracting blackbirds and thrushes), put out some live food ie: mealworms, for the robins, blackbirds etc. Oh, and try to keep the soil well dug or ‘chivvied’ to loosen the top layers – they like to poke around in the soil and look for easy work. If the soil surface is hard and dry, they’ll go elsewhere for easier pickings._________________
*Boudicca – Gets REALLY stroppy after a pint!*