Ewwwww! I touched a slug!!!!!

Yucka! Last night I had let Princess Furgirl out for the last time around ten. When I called her in she did not come bursting through the back door like she usually does. Instead, she came hobbling in on three legs while holding her front paw up and at a weird angle. She had it kind of twisted to the side, so I thought that she had broken or fractured it, but she was not crying or whimpering or anything. So I dropped to my knees to examine her paw and put my hand around her leg. That was when I felt something squishy and slimey on the elbow of her front leg. EEEEEEEWWWW! That was when I realized that (thankfully) her paw was not broken, instead she was holding her paw all weird to say, "Eeeewwww! Momma, there is a slug touching me!"

I grabbed a paper towel, removed said slug, then started my oh-my-gosh-that-was-so-gross dance, complete with shuddering. (The things we do for love.) The whole experience gave me the willies, and has probably started some long term trauma. The best treatment I could think of at the time for this was the immediate consumption of white fudge covered Oreos. (Don't judge me.)

All of this brought back memories of my kids going to Science Camp in the Santa Cruz mountains when they were each in fifth grade. This was a big deal and the kids looked forward to this camp all through elementary school. Anyway, one of the, er, "highlights" of this particular camp was the kids interaction with Banana Slugs. Now, if you have never seen a banana slug, by all means, Google them, and you will be dazzled by the various and assundry photos of these, um, lovely creatures. Oh, and did I mention they are HUGE? Anyway, the highlight of this camp was that the kids either could 1) kiss a banana slug or 2) let the banana slugs be draped across the bridge of their noses. For this the kids who bravely did this, they were given a sticker and, of course, bragging rights and sent on their merry way.

Now in my book, there would have to be something pretty amazing, and not just a sticker, to put me within kissing distance of a slug. A steak dinner at any Morgan's Steakhouse, a full set of Gloriana silks, a chance to ride along with Tony Stewart at Talledega...

Anyway, this practice was recently done away with because they found that the practice was traumatic for the slugs. While I do not doubt this, I feel the need for a white fudge covered Oreo coming on...