July 2007

We just got back from vacation. We visited five states and four national parks and went to Canada for a day. I hoped we’d see a bear or two but the bears were not around. We saw other animalsbison, coyotes, bighorn sheep, pronghorns. We saw sea otters and starfish. I took a lot of cool pictures but this is my favorite.

This is a Banana Slug. It lives in the Pacific Northwest. The only slugs I’ve seen here in Minnesota are tiny and brown so I was thrilled to find one of these beauties. Its Latin name is Ariolimax columbianus, in case you were wondering. It can grow to nine inches in length and eats just about any kind of crud it finds on the ground.

Banana slugs are slimy. If you put one in your mouth the slime will numb your tongue. A friend told me about this. He wouldn’t say how he found out but I have my suspicions.

It would be fun to write a story from a slug’s point of view. What would slugs say if they could talk? What would they think of all the fast and speedy things around them? What kind of games would they play? Would they be good at math? What would a slug say to someone who was always in a hurry?

If you write a slug story . In the meantime, slow down and see if you can spot something new in your yard or garden.

Happy Writing!

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