Last night, as Spenser was walking back from the toilet to our trailer, a pair of inconspicuous slugs caught his eye. As we sat mesmerized, we were not prepared for the other-wordly experience we were in for… This further confirms our supposition that Squamish is undoubtedly a magical forest.
Enjoy the weirdness of nature- you just can’t make this sh*t up!
At first, the two slugs seemed to just be hanging out on a tree, one following the other. Slowly but surely, the spotted slug started turning around towards the unicolored one forming a “P” shape.
The slugs continue to crawl closer to each other…
Yin & yang.
Progressing past the yin-yang form.
Then, things start to get really wild… (apologies in advance for the photo quality!)
Suddenly, the slugs go into warp-speed, twisting & winding around each other while descending their muscus thread. Yup, a mucus thread. Yum, yum!
The slugs in full twist.
Now the real fun begins! Note the descending sexual organs that also begin to wrap around each other.
Other-wordly.
The final product. A writhing, pulsating fertilizing egg basket.
Another view.
After the mating has commenced, the slugs disconnect themselves and go their separate ways. After doing a bit of research, these slugs are Limax maximus species (literally “great slug”), common names include the great gray slug or leopard slug, for obvious reasons. The hermaphroditic slug is native to Europe, but was introduced to North America in the 19th century. It is invasive and has been known to push out poor indigenous Banana Slugs!
Not surprisingly, they are known for their very unusual & distinctive mating method.
For more on these slugs, see the Wikipedia page.