Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Spider Man Slug in the Boreal Forest

Standing, looking at my compass, sighting my direction, I notice a little speck out of the corner of my eye.

Swinging in the wind is a slug. Slowly lowering itself from a tree branch. I have never seen this before. I did not know a slug could web it's way to the ground.

While I watched for 10 minutes the slug descended more then 25cm. It was maybe 1 meter from the ground when it let go it's line and landed on the forest floor. The branch the critter had come from was 3 meters in the air.

What was that slug doing up that high? Climbing down would be a slow process.

I searched the internet but could not find a good resource to link to about slugs. some looked close to this one but not really.

If you know what it is let us know!

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Blue Spotted Salamander

I started this entry some time ago. I finish it tonight.

My puppy noted by his tail wagging that something of interest was under a large rock. His tail tells me when he thinks he has something cornered for sure.

I come to give him a hand to see what he has. I roll the large boulder to the side and watch a little mouse run away into a pile of slash. The dog does not see it.

I notice a little creature there in the dirt slowly moving away. I pick it up and looked at it carefully. The warmth of my hand makes this little critter a little more active. I take a couple of pictures while it absorbs the sun.

I place him back in a well protected place as it prepares for the winter. map

Raccoon comes to Timmins

The other day I came across a raccoon.

The poor little critter had been hit by a car on the airport road. I had been told a month ago that raccoons where in town.

Now I know it is true.

Added to the Timmins Naturalists Observation Page.