Another Rescue

Turning over a flower pot this afternoon to check on my slugs, I discovered what appeared to be a dead slug: it was lying on its side, even partially on its back, covered with potting soil. I touched its body gently with a stick and it moved. The slug then contracted its body, tentacles and all, into a heap. At first I tried to remove some of the dirt with the stick, but the slug's mucus interfered. So I picked the slug up with my fingers and set it down on a stepping stone. By then, as a result of my poor rescue efforts and its own squirming, the slug was a squishy, dirt-covered ball. You could hardly see the slug inside! With my fingers I picked away at the clumps of dirt and tiny pieces of wood, bit by bit. Though the slug kept its cephalic tentacles retracted for protection, it remained still while I cleaned it up. I could see it was scared, but it also seemed willing to be cleaned. I had to turn it over once because there were large pieces stuck to its underside: that's when I saw the slime groove for the first time (I had read about it but never seen it; it really is a furrow running the length of the slug's body). Finally, after several minutes, the slug's body was free of dirt. I waited and then it stuck out those tentacles to check out the situation. Without further ado, apparently sensing it was no longer inhibited, the slug turned around, stretching out its body in the process, and slid right off the remaining dirt, which adhered to the pool of mucus on the stone (slugs secrete more mucus when they're agitated, as a defense mechanism). Then it slithered down over the edge of the stone and into the grass.

Another successful rescue! I'm thinking of carrying around a pair of latex gloves with me from now on, in case I ever need to do something like this again. I had never touched a slug's body before, and the sensation wasn't what I expected: its skin felt like one of those (very soft) rubber snakes I used to play with as a kid, but it was warm too (which surprised me) and of course rather sticky. As with the tree frog, I'm thankful that I was there to help a fellow creature. I wonder if God puts me in these situations on purpose? I mean, in the case of the frog, I was on my way back from depositing a sweat bee (I assume: it had a metallic-green thorax and a yellow & black striped abdomen and was the size of a small yellow jacket) outside that had landed on my desk. I wouldn't have noticed the frog in the porch had I not been out there. Hm...right place at the right time.