October 12th, 2006
going bananas
Bev here – writing from northern California. Don arrived out west on Sunday and we’re doing a bit of trekking around before returning home next week.
Four weeks into this trip, I finally encountered my first Banana Slugs. I’d been watching for them for a few days, but the earth seemed quite dry along most of the redwood forest trails where we had been hiking, so that must have kept the slugs hidden away in the foliage. However, yesterday, we encountered 3 of these large slugs along a trail where the soil and foliage was damp. This morning, we stopped counting at 15 when we descended a trail down to the beach at Patrick’s Point State Park.
I believe these Banana Slugs are Ariolimax californicus. As their name implies, they are large and entirely yellow. Most of the ones that we encountered seemed to be approximately 15cm (6 inches) in length. While they seemed quite aware and would readily retract their eye-stalks when sensing movement nearby, they seemed to quickly resume their activities if undisturbed. With such a bright colour, the pneumostome (air breathing opening) was quite easily seen.
Also seen along the trails were several very large landsnails with colourful shells (see below). I don’t know the species but suspect that they are commonly seen here in the Pacific Northwest.
I’ll have a net connection for the next day or so and will probably post some odds and ends if I get a bit of time.
