You get more flies with Honey than Vinegar.

One of my relatives swears by bay leaves as ant repellant -- you're supposed to find where the ants are getting into your house, and put the bay leaves in that crack/hole.

This could be tested with a large container with a deliberately-cracked divider wall down the middle, ants living on one side and food for them on the other. Let the ants establish their trails, then stuff one crack with bay leaves. Maybe stuff another crack with something inert (paper?) but the same mass, to establish whether its the bay or just the plugged hole. And leave at least one crack open as the control.

Hmm... I have pulled a few drowned slugs out of my Pond....(And snails!..) are my fish smuggling in Beer?...
Or is Slugs cant drown a valid myth?...
I know they cant swim very well.

Insect control, I know that Queen has Garlic planted amongst the rose gardens at Buckingham Palace, to deter Greenfly. (They also spray garlic infused water if the get an outbreak...)
I have Chives amongst my own roses.
They are from the same general family of plants.
I also know that if you take box hedge clippings and soak them in water, then spray the water over roses, that also keeps greenfly down.
These are tried and tested myths....

Not all slugs have the same physiologically, some have lungs, and would therefore be able drown, other breathe using a modified Gill and are less likely to drown.
Could it be that the species of slugs we have in the UK are from the taxonomic group that have lungs, and in the USA the Gill breathers, in a similar way to groups like new world monkeys have prehensile tails where old world ones do not?

Being covered in their own slime is not the same as "wet", and if I remember right, washing a slug in tap water can seriously damage its health, as it has to re-slime its entire body...
I believe some Frogs and Toads have the same problem, but are more used to it, being water dwellers.
(I do watch a lot of David Attenborough wildlife shows...)

Also slugs have a very good set of sensory equipment that helps them avoid salt...

I usually do the 2 litre bottle where I cut the top off, fill the bottle about halfway with some sort of sugary solution (soda works fine), turn the top on its head, plunge it in and duct tape the sides. It creates a nice funnel for the creeps to get in through, but they can't find their way back to the tiny hole and out again.

Like this:




EDIT: If you've got kids and you're worried that they'll get their hands on it, make a couple of holes through the sides of the plastic at the top, pull some string through to make a "handle" and hang it up where they can't reach it.

It really works. Beer attracts slugs over a very great distance. And once a few had drowned, the rest can climb back out again.

So the real trick is to convince a neighbour to set out beer traps, then it will really work for YOU since all the slugs will be in your neighbours yard!