A few weeks ago I was lamenting the fact that I hadn’t seen a slug in many years.
I think they’re cute. It must be the antennae. The slime doesn’t gross me out at all. Which is weird, because phlegm, when it’s independent of a human body, makes me dry heave. No question. Especially if it’s just.. There. Without a trace of the person it came from. *shudders*
I remember finding slugs in my mother’s rock garden and letting them crawl all over my hands until I got bored, and moved on to making potato bugs curl, and uncurl.
My family took a trip across the United States when my mother’s cancer had gone into remission. I think.. Or before she got sick. (every event in my childhood life seems to have happened when I was either 7, or 11.. memory is a strange machine.) One of our stops was Yellowstone National Park. I remember distinctly the redwoods, and millions of these.
The Spotted Banana Slug.
I’m not exaggerating.. There must have been some sort of phenomenon(slugnomenon) that year, because they were EVERYWHERE.
I was in heaven.
You can imagine the sound that came out of me, and subsequent stair tromping that ensued to retrieve my camera, when I found this little guy on my new heirloom tomato plant.
I was giggling merrily to myself when something near the window of my basement, behind the magnolia tree, caught my eye. Oddly shaped mud on the windowsill. What ho? I went to investigate.
The next image is NSFW, you guys.
Dung.
Droppings.
A piece of fece.
Guano.
Night soil.
Something bigger than a bread basket has been using my yard to defecate. On a regular basis!
What could it possibly be? I’ve seen a skunk traipsing around our neighborhood for a couple of years now..
Look, I’m no scatological expert.. And how does one go about stopping the interloper from returning? He’s clearly identified this area as his own personal bathroom. I wish I had surveillance equipment.
Partially because I want to make sure it’s not a small person. Just a little bit.
On a positive note, I replanted all of my tomatoes and basil in pots. The judgmental gardener next door told me about a black walnut tree that may or may not poison my tomatoes if I have them in the ground. I decided not to take any chances.
Another victory for today? Me lettuces are growing.
Wicked downer for today? Someone ate my strawberries. *face*
I think I might buy a little chicken wire for them.. Just to be on the safe side. What if it was that fat f**king squirrel? Cojones, sir. You has them. Nah..I bet you it was the pooper. GDit, nature!
