Close Encounter

The other day at work something magical (to me at least) happened. As I was going about my not so fun day at work, I was driving up on the hills of Glendale. Getting ready to make a left turn, I saw something going across the street. It looked like a little shadow, I thought to my self. After letting it cross I pulled over to investigate. It looked like a mouse, but had a little stubby tail and walked “funny”. As soon as I saw this walk (it looked like it was trying to swim) I realised this was no quirky mouse, but a mole. This little guy was lost trying to dig himself into his comfort zone at any patch of leaves it could find. Only to find pavement underneath. So I did what any self respecting land steward would do, picked him up and put him on the soil by some trees. As soon as I did this, his “funny” swim like walking turned to a graceful well practised digging. Within seconds he was gone underground and I followed the trail for a while marvelling at the beauty of nature. Hope he’s doing well for himself…

green slug

 
Elysia chlorotica. This little gem is indigenous to the salt marshes of New England and Canada. What makes this slug so special is that it is member of both the flora and fauna kingdoms. It claims this hybrid state by producing it’s own chlorophyll, thereby gaining energy from the sun’s rays. All the baby slug needs to do is have it’s first and only meal of algae to steal some chloroplasts and from then on it’s a life of sunbathing.