It was another gorgeous weekend - the type where you want to open every window of the house and drink some sort of summery drink - so Jeremy and I decided to take a quick jaunt in the Marin headlands (basicaly straight north from our place, over the Golden Gate Bridge).
The Golden Gate National Recration Area is laced with trails. Once you are over the bridge, you can pretty much pull over, park, start walking and hit a trail.
This turned out to be a good thing, since Hwy. 1 is (still) under construction. We pulled over next to a handy trailhead and set out. In between stints gazing at the lovely vistas of the headlands, the ocean and Mill Valley spread out below, I noticed something weird and slimy in the dust.
I thought it was some fresh poop - and said so to Jeremy - but he informed me that rarely does poop have antennae. "Good point," I thought. It turned out to be a banana slug. These goobery critters look like what would happen if the garden slugs from Minnesota went on a steriod regimen.
The thing was a full five inches long and mysteriously suspended in a thin layer of its own clear goo. It reminded me of those Jell-o molds mom used to make, but instead of apples or pineapple inside, it was a slug. Of course, I was both repelled and fascinated, and I had to snap a photo.
The thing I love about banana slugs is that these fine slimy creatures are actually a college mascot for the University of California Santa Cruz. This fact delights me. Who doesn't want to support the local college by sporting a hat or sweatshirt with this lovable slug on the front (see, he even reads Plato!)
Enough about slugs, you say? Alright. I'm just glad Josie didn't attempt to eat one. Now THAT, my friends, would be truly gross.
4 comments:
Five inches? That is crazy! And after your description of the goo and clear sac that it was in, I'm glad to hear that it WASN'T poop - because that would be truly disturbing.
Woah, squashing a slug that size would be a BAD IDEA. Last summer I made the mistake of smashing a MN slug I found in the garden with a woodchip--it still gives me the willies as I remember its gelatinous insides shooting out and landing on my bare foot. Needless to say, I screamed and kept washing and rewashing the spot on my foot for days afterward.
disappointed you didn't make a connection to MN's Slug - that was a softball and you whiffed
Look its wet green banana with antennae!!
Cephalopodic invertebrates are rather tasty if steamed well and served in a nice Hoisin sauce. If offered one in Asia, I recommend it with the caveat that it takes a fair amount of time to chew, so the peculiar texture and taste has time to "Boquet" on your pallette and intitiate a gag reflex...
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