Cold Weather Making you Sluggish?

As you might guess from the pictures in this post, I am using the cold weather this week as an excuse to post some pictures of a slug.

I guess to be accurate I should call it a snail (molluscan class Gastropoda), but that doesn't work as well with my post title.

I doubt the little fellow is alive anymore since we've had a lot of sub-freezing weather since these pictures were taken on November 27th.

I noticed the little guy moving across some leaves (quite slowly, as you might guess) on the ground near a stream in Duke Forest. To get a better bead on the head parts, I put the snail up on a tree branch.

The new location didn't seem to bother it one bit and he (she?) was merrily moving about in no time at all. The hand shot was taken during the transfer and is being used to give scale to the critter. It was small, true, but had loads of personality. Small things often do.



Comments

srp said…
Very nice close-up shots indeed. I love the moss as the backdrop. Poor snails... when we had the 12 inches of rain with wind they crawled up the garage door and simply stayed... perhaps to get out of the water on the ground... I think it must have seemed a flood for them. It has been cold here as well and I wish it would get back to normal in the 50's, I need to empty and clean the hot tub...... so I can get in on these cold nights.
4:17 PM
kenju said…
Nice photos, Dave. I get sluggish in the cold, as does mr. kenju. Old bones and joints need warmth!
10:00 AM
Usedtobeme said…
Great photos but every time I see a snail or a slug, I'm reminded of the line from the Disney movie A Bug's Life where the bugs are in a bar and grill and the slug's mouth is foaming and he mumbles out "I said no salt!"
1:48 AM
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