Gastropods I have known/end of spring

[summer_jackel]

I've been meaning to make this post for a couple of months now, and just haven't; things have been busy. This was originally going to be a photoessay celebrating my resident gastropods, but as I was looking through the unposted pictures from spring, I realized that I have a lot of others as well, so have some flowers, fungus and spiders.

Mostly, it's all about the banana slug love, though. tailypo, this one's for you. :)





It was the wettest spring we've had for years, and as a result everything has stayed green longer and bloomed more excitingly. Spring is definitely coming to a close; it's warm enough for me to swim and most of the delicate little flowers are done. I'm seeing fewer slugs, most of them having gone to den. A few months ago, though, the slugs had free run of the place.



Hi! I'm a banana slug.



I love this shot.





A slug in the hand is worth two in the sorrel.








The slugs aren't my only special forest gastropod neighbors. When I am very fortunate, I spot a redwood snail. I found several denning under rotten wood in my garden this spring. They are not common.



It was raining and I am a banana slug.



Here's another individual, a larger, darker one. See how the shell is on in a completely different way than a garden snail?







The forest has spiders, too. So many of these tiny, delicate orb weavers. Photographing them is a pain in the butt, but trying occasionally gets me a nice shot.



She decided to spin in the lid of one of my pots. I relocated her gently into the garden.



This one was up on the ridge, where there is more sun and grasslands. Kyn has identified this as a Phydippus jumping spider.



With a face.



So much sorrel.



Wild rose, tender and delicate in the shade.



Leaf litter with wood trillium



I have lots of love for the trillium. It grows in heavy shade and doesn't last more than a week or so. The flowers start pure white, and then fade to red before wilting.











Ascomycete fungus. Love love love.



Calypso orchids. There were so many of them this spring! Tiny, delicate, hard to spot and gorgeous.









They fade quickly.





An awesome, slimy yellow fungus. One of my dreams is to go back to school and study mycology, so that I know more about all the really fantastic fungus that lives all around me. No idea what this is, other than slimy and delightful.



Wood trillium, snacked upon by slugs



Rooster is bigger now...and so is Bliss, believe it or not.



Noble blue collie.



awwwwwwwwwwwwwww




So Kyn's dog and my cat are both Evil Geniuses. And they are friends. Oh, s----...!



Don't ask me why Tiger decided that Zeno the plush snow leopard needed a nice grooming, though.

Comments

[kynekh-amagire.livejournal.com]

As usual, your forest inhabitants are splendid, and your cat is fantastically peculiar.

[summer-jackel.livejournal.com]

heh, yeah, that he is. It's been fun exploring the hills with you this spring. :)

[raveness-d.livejournal.com]

Salticid LOVE

[summer-jackel.livejournal.com]

cute, cute, cuuuuuuuute little spidders...

[martes.livejournal.com]

The only slugs we have down here are those horrible European garden slugs that eat everything. I will gladly chop them in half when I can.

Very nice picture.

[summer-jackel.livejournal.com]

My preferred method is to give them to very small ducks, or better yet let the ducks loose in your garden when it is mature enough that the birds aren't tempted by new growth. But then, I am terribly fond of ducks.

The banana slugs just make me happy. I'm glad you like the pic; I think a couple of them came out pretty decently, and I want to do a series of slug "portraits."

Also, love your AHNT icon. We did not have as many invasions this winter, and I actually saw some of our native wood ants this spring. Maybe the Argentine ant invasion is slacking off a little.

[camelai.livejournal.com]

Hehe! The cat I had growing up always liked to groom my stuffed animals and suck on my blanket. (It annoyed me, because after she'd licked/sucked them they had to be washed. And it totally ruined the texture of their fur.)
Bliss is looking much fluffier these days!

[summer-jackel.livejournal.com]

I've never caught Tiger doing anything with my plush until now, but I'm glad he doesn't seem to be making a habit of it.

Bliss isn't even done growing in his coat, but he is definitely making a start on it! I need to groom him all the way out and then post.

[camelai.livejournal.com]

Can't wait to see him all groomed!

[cphoenix.livejournal.com]

That ascomycete fungus looks a lot like cave bacon. Very cool photos - thanks! I just sent you one... hope you like it!

I'm glad to see a post from you! I was starting to wonder if my RSS feed was down or something more serious had happened.

Chris

[summer-jackel.livejournal.com]

Your pic is cool!!!! It looks like the same species of fungus. What a neat thing.

My journaling is irregular, especially when it's not NaPo. Been a busy couple of months. :)

[a-rowan-dryad.livejournal.com]

Lovely as always...even the things that totally creep me out! Your photography makes the creepies worth it.

Hope all is well.

[summer-jackel.livejournal.com]

Aw, thank you! That's high praise!

[troubleagain.livejournal.com]

When my cats were kittens, they slept on the belly of this huge teddy-bear I had in "their" room.

[summer-jackel.livejournal.com]

Awwwwwwwwwwww. That's adorable.

I have a big plush collection, and I had never seen Tiger show any interest at all in them, other than sleeping next to them because he happened to be sleeping on my bed, before I caught him grooming Zeno. wtf kitty? Tiger is a weird beast.

[ladyringo.livejournal.com]

Wow, the slug photos were awesome! Made me miss home!

Also, as a side note, you and your pack o' dogs were in my dreams last night. It was nice to see you. :)

[summer-jackel.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad you like these!

And NEAT about the dream. I hope we can see each other in person again some time!