Why is it that slugs and snails die when they come in to contact with salt?

Question

Why is it that slugs and snails die when they come in to contact with salt?

Answer 1

allergy?

Answer 2

exosmosis takes place

Answer 3

It dries them up.  They need to keep their flesh wet in order to move and breath.

*SL

Answer 4

Slugs and snails have a higher percentage of their body weight made up of water compared to other animals.

When you pour salt on a slug or snail, it dries up their body by making the water inside the slug/snail move outside their body.

Eventually, the slug/snail becomes drier then it's body can handle and dies of dehydration.

Hope this helps.

Answer 5

i dunno but me and my mum was in the kitchen and we randomly saw a slug (ARGH IN THE FREAKING KITCHEN) so me n mi mum got card n put it outside but we wanted to know what salt on a slug looked like so we pourd salt on it n it sorta looked like it was melting away like acid on a human skin.

Answer 6

low sodieum diet thing

Answer 7

they don't like being a-salted.

Answer 8

salt absorbs the moisture from them so they curl up and die

Answer 9

Their skin is a semi permeable membrane, when the outside concentration of salt is high (there is a concentration gradient), water moves out to equal the concentration. Unfortunately for the  gastropod in question, this means there is a fatal deficit of water on the inside - the slug/snail shrivels up and dies.