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Slug Fest · Street Smart Naturalist

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: Greetings,
• 0:02
  SPEAKER_00: this is David B.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_00: Williams in the podcast of my newsletter,
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_00: The Street Smart Naturalist,
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: Explorations of the Urban Kind.
• 0:10
  Every week I share my observations and adventures with the
• 0:13
  human and natural world
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: around Seattle,
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  SPEAKER_00: Puget Sound,
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  SPEAKER_00: and the Pacific Northwest.
• 0:18
  Today's episode celebrates a nearby natural area and the slugs
• 0:22
  who make it their home.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_00: To learn more about my work, please go to my website, geologywriter.com.
• 0:28
  You will also find a link to my Substack newsletter and my
• 0:31
  previous four years of newsletters,
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: as well as images tied to this week's episode.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks again for joining me on this adventure,
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: and welcome to Podcast 21 of the Street Smart Naturalist,
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: Slugfest,
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: Some Adult Supervision Required,
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: April 24,
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  SPEAKER_00: 2025.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_00: This past weekend,
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  SPEAKER_00: Marjorie and I and friends went walking in a splendid wooded area,
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  SPEAKER_00: Taylor Mountain.
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  Like other forested spots near Seattle that have been protected
• 0:59
  by the city,
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: county,
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  SPEAKER_00: state,
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  SPEAKER_00: or federal government,
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  SPEAKER_00: it is a haven of beauty.
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  Biggest were the holy trinity trees,
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  Douglas firs,
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  western red cedars,
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  and western hemlocks.
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  SPEAKER_00: Many so large I couldn't wrap my arms around them.
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  SPEAKER_00: We debated if they were original growth and concluded they were not.
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  SPEAKER_00: Back in the day, no logger would have left behind any trees.
• 1:21
  These arboreal skyscrapers simply illustrated the stunning
• 1:24
  ability of our local
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  SPEAKER_00: climate and soil to crank out life.
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  SPEAKER_00: We also reveled in the old cedar stumps,
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  SPEAKER_00: complete with springboard notches,
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  SPEAKER_00: where loggers had stood to get above the tree's base buttresses.
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  SPEAKER_00: Many of these mortal moraine's
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  SPEAKER_00: from the long dead trees,
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  SPEAKER_00: were wider than any living tree we saw,
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  SPEAKER_00: and many had taken on a second life as a nursery for western hemlocks.
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  The smallest were youthful seedlings,
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  often joined by dozens of sibling sprouts.
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  SPEAKER_00: The biggest were trees that had interfingered their roots down,
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  SPEAKER_00: through,
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  SPEAKER_00: and around their stump,
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  SPEAKER_00: like a great embrace,
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: as if the younger tree was thanking the elder for the gift of life.
• 2:06
  On a much smaller scale were the hordes of slugs sliming across
• 2:10
  the trail.
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  SPEAKER_00: As an abundant as I've seen in a while,
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  SPEAKER_00: the slitherers came in three varieties,
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  SPEAKER_00: black,
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  SPEAKER_00: brown,
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  SPEAKER_00: and neither of those.
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  SPEAKER_00: The N.O.T.
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  SPEAKER_00: variety was the only one I felt confident in identifying.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: They were our legendary banana slugs, Aerial Lymax Columbianus.
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  SPEAKER_00: By the way,
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  two members of the United States Exploring Expedition collected
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  the first known
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  SPEAKER_00: specimens of the species in May 1841.
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  SPEAKER_00: An assistant taxidermist,
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  SPEAKER_00: John Dyes,
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  SPEAKER_00: found one at Fort Nisqually,
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  SPEAKER_00: and Augustus Case collected another at Port Discovery.
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  SPEAKER_00: Sadly,
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  both men are better known for the inlets that bear their names
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  than for their
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  SPEAKER_00: contributions to malacology.
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  SPEAKER_00: Banana slugs have achieved their mythic status for many reasons.
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  SPEAKER_00: They are superb recyclers,
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  SPEAKER_00: aka detritivores and decomposers,
• 3:01
  with an astonishing ability to break down organic material and
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  convert it to forms
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  SPEAKER_00: that other species can consume.
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  SPEAKER_00: Banana slugs also produce a mucus,
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  SPEAKER_00: neither solid nor liquid,
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  but a liquid crystal composed of semi-ordered molecules which
• 3:17
  expand when wet,
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  SPEAKER_00: such as in a predator's mouth.
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  SPEAKER_00: Mucus is also an anesthetic, numbing a predator's tongue or throat.
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  Working in concert,
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  these properties help prevent banana slugs from becoming
• 3:30
  someone's lunch.
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  SPEAKER_00: Mucus further enhances a banana slug's sex life.
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  SPEAKER_00: When ready for the act,
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  slugs release pheromones in their mucus that draws in a
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  potential partner.
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  SPEAKER_00: Being a timid sort of guy, I won't go into the details of copulation,
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  But suffice it to say that it is unique,
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  in part because they are hermaphrodites.
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  SPEAKER_00: Early on, it involves biting and smacking.
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  SPEAKER_00: Then there's the duration, which can be hours.
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  SPEAKER_00: And finally,
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  SPEAKER_00: some banana slugs resort to apophyllation,
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: or biting off their partner's penis post-copulation.
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  SPEAKER_00: I kid you not that this happens,
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  SPEAKER_00: that scientists study this behavior,
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  SPEAKER_00: and that they have a word for it.
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  Stanford zoology professor Harold Heath was the first to
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  describe a population in a
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  SPEAKER_00: May 1916 article in The Nautilus.
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  SPEAKER_00: He initially noted that 5% of adult banana slugs lacked a penis and that,
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  SPEAKER_00: quote,
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  the conviction became stronger that at some previous time the
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  penis had been cast off,
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  SPEAKER_00: unquote.
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  SPEAKER_00: So he did what any good scientist would do.
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  SPEAKER_00: He sought field evidence and found it on dark and gloomy days.
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  SPEAKER_00: After several hours of the act of conjugation,
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  one of the animals turned its head and commenced to gnaw upon
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  the walls of the organ.
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  SPEAKER_00: "'Hooray!'
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  SPEAKER_00: cried at Heath.
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  He speculated that what remained from the successful ganar
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  could act as a plug to
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  SPEAKER_00: help keep in sperm,
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  SPEAKER_00: or possibly a population with his fault,
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  SPEAKER_00: and that his presence triggered the act of severance.
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  Perhaps gnawing was an adaptation to allow those involved to
• 5:08
  separate more rapidly
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  SPEAKER_00: than usual when alarmed.
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  SPEAKER_00: To this day, scientists have not determined why a population occurs.
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  SPEAKER_00: The fate of the pink penis is likewise unknown, concluded Heath.
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  Despite these many fine aspects of their life history,
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  slugs get no respect and little love.
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  SPEAKER_00: In fact, they seem to merit the opposite for most people.
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  SPEAKER_00: Consider these poisoned words of Celia Thaxter, a 19th century poet.
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  SPEAKER_00: It seems to me that the worst of all the plagues is the slug.
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  He is beyond repulsive,
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  a mass of sooty,
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  shapeless slime,
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  and he devours everything.
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  SPEAKER_00: As Mr. Shakespeare wrote, the lady doth protest too much, methinks.
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  SPEAKER_00: I have to admit that in my youth, I often did not treat slugs well.
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  SPEAKER_00: I won't bore you with the details,
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  SPEAKER_00: but suffice it to write that I killed many,
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_00: in many unpleasant ways,
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  SPEAKER_00: at the house where I grew up.
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  I had been taught that they served no purpose and that they
• 6:05
  were devourers of
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  SPEAKER_00: lettuce and other vegetables.
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  SPEAKER_00: I now realized that I wasn't thinking.
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  SPEAKER_00: Like many kids,
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  SPEAKER_00: I wasn't a great lover of lettuce,
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  so I should have been encouraging these invertebrate eaters of
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  vegetables instead
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  SPEAKER_00: of acting as I did.
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  SPEAKER_00: yet another part of my misspent youth.
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  SPEAKER_00: Now,
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  SPEAKER_00: as a wise adult,
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  SPEAKER_00: I have learned to savor the slug,
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  SPEAKER_00: superbly adapted to their world,
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  SPEAKER_00: even if they have a bit of a kinky sex life.
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  SPEAKER_00: They are essential members of their community.
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  SPEAKER_00: They clean up debris, they recycle, they create food for others.
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  SPEAKER_00: As with so many aspects of the natural world,
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  SPEAKER_00: perhaps we should take heed,
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  SPEAKER_00: learn from them,
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  and honor them for their contributions instead of condemning
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  them for a lifestyle
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  SPEAKER_00: different from ours.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_00: Once again,
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_00: this is David B.
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  SPEAKER_00: Williams,
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  SPEAKER_00: author and voice of The Street Smart Naturalist,
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_00: Explorations of the Urban Kind,
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  a weekly newsletter and podcast focusing on the human and
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  natural world around Seattle,
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_00: Puget Sound,
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  SPEAKER_00: and the Pacific Northwest.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_00: If you'd like more details about my books,
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_00: walks,
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_00: and talks,
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_00: and a link to sign up for my newsletter and podcast,
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_00: check out my website,
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_00: geologywriter.com.
• 7:11
  And don't forget to slow down,
• 7:13
  pay attention,
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  and enjoy the world around you.