Week of August 15, 2021

The Keuka Lakehouse enjoys a milder, moist lakeside climate which fosters the flowers in Nonny’s garden, and all sorts of SLUGS, many of which ravenously eat Nonny’s flowers. There are many kinds of varying sizes and shapes. The land snails carry beautiful striped shells and grow to the size of a quarter. As described previously, we put out trays filled with cheap beer which attracts them in large numbers and causes them to die of drowning or alcohol toxicity. To this point, the slug problem in Upstate New York is similar to that of our Florida Garden, but there is one big exception: the Leopard slug, Limus Maximus. This is the king of the North American slugs by far, with 5 to 7 inch slugs climbing our rock wall and the gravel driveway below it in large numbers on warm summer nights. They are attractive in their own way, with a mantle of dark spots over the first half of their long, plump bodies. They are intensely slimey, leaving long slime trails on the stones of the wall and walkway which are iridescent in the next morning’s sun. There is some controversy as to whether they eat garden plants, which most authorities suggest they do not, and in fact, rather eat the other slugs causing the damage, as “the gardener’s friend.” A behavior which is particularly bizarre is their sex life, observed not infrequently. The Leopard slug is hermaphroditic, with two large slugs getting together on top of the rock wall, twisting around and creating a slime rope from which they dangle in midair. Eventually, light blue penises extend out, entwine, and exchange sperm, which fertilizes each other’s eggs! The two slugs then disengage with both lovers laying eggs in their nests in the rock wall. Who knew this was going on in Nonny’s garden!