Slug Sex

Go with me, here.

It may sound weird, but just watch the video.

If you didn't catch on, let me fill you in on some details from my recent research: slugs are hermaphrodites. As in, they have girl and boy reproductive parts. They are also hatched from eggs.

Why my sudden interest?

Well, slugs have always been on my radar - ever since my brother, Mike, told me that they could jump six feet in the air and attack me. At the age of five, I believed him. So much so that there was a pant-wetting incident due to a banana slug. True story.

Aaaaaannnd, I've always enjoyed pouring salt on the little guys to CREATE THEIR DEMISE!!! Bwahahahahaha!!! In fact, Kevin and I have gone slug hunting in the evenings when we take MacDuff down for the last potty trip before bed. There are several different kinds of slugs out there, some of which have been eating my MIL's garden like crazy (sneaky little buggers)! It seemed like the perfect symbiotic relationship: we get to salt the slugs and the garden gets to grow.

And while I admit to hating any type of animal suffering (I'll tell you about the dying opossum I "saved" another time), this doesn't usually extend to bugs and slugs. But for whatever reason, I started wondering about the lives of the slimy little guys. I would see baby slugs and wonder how old they were.

How are they born? How do they reproduce? What's inside the sticky exoskeleton? 

So I looked it up. Wikipedia and YouTube. How could I go wrong?

The video above was the first I found. And since the narrating voice matches the one from the Planet Earth series, I'm going to say it's legit. 

Watch it again.

ISN'T THAT CRAZY?!?!?! I'm so fascinated! Now I really want to build a terrarium of some kind and watch slugs mate, reproduce, and grow up close. Seriously, this might just happen.

Truly, the creatures of this world amaze me. How did God think of all of their intricate details? Even flies, which I detest, have a distinct pattern on their back. Worms move way more quickly than they should. Spider webs are one of the strongest materials made by a creature.

It's amazing and awe-inspiring.

You don't have to go Hug a Slug now, or allow one to touch you in any manner (yuck!), but at least show the video to someone. It's just too awesomely gross and weird not to!

So tell me: What strange detail of nature fascinates you?