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Sunday, April 12, 2009

Introducing Herman

Meet Herman. He (or she!) is a Leopard slug that lived in one of our compost bins all last Summer. I hope life has been treating him well wherever he may be now, since the bin was emptied in the Autumn. This is the view I get when I take off the lid and look down into the bin. Click on the photograph to see Herman in his full glory.




And here he is sticking his tongue out at me!




I'm looking forward to mid-Summer when the temperature inside the compost bins really hots up and the myriad of beasties that live in them thrive. Lifting off the lid, it's like a scene from a Hammer Horror film..... hundreds of flies emerge and hover at the surface and below, there are masses of wriggling writhing worms, as well as species of creatures too small for the eye to see. Herman was one of my favourites though and I looked forward to seeing him on my daily trip to the compost bin. I'm sure he used to wait to greet me to see what fresh goodies I was bringing him! I will equally look forward to meeting his offspring this coming season.

All of these weird and wonderful beasties are welcome in our compost bins. They do an efficient job of breaking down the kitchen waste and producing humus rich soil for our garden.

(Leopard Slugs are also known as Tiger Slugs and The Great Grey Slug).

Click here for a fabulous photograph of The Great Grey Slug and here for more information.






8 comments:

  1. How sweet of you to care for this little slug and name him Herman. People like you have a good heart and caring soul. God bless you, Lesley. You are one good person this world really needs to have.

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  2. Hi Ss! :) Thank you for those lovely sentiments. Herman (and his large extended family) and I have a two-way relationship though.... I tip the left-over greens into the compost bin and he very kindly breaks it down for me. :D

    Herman says to tell you he's not so little.... he and his ilk grow up to 20cm (8 inches)! King of the slugs. :O)

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  3. If he somehow started a band would he call it Herman's Hermits!!! Sorry!

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  4. Hee hee, they could do a gig on 'Creature Comforts'. :D

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  5. How can you tell he is a he? How interesting, i never see any slug in my house's bins.

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  6. Hello E.June. Our compost bins are in the garden and are on a soil base, so they easily gain access.

    I spoke of Herman being a 'he' but really slugs are hermaphrodite which means that they have both female and male reproductive organs. I've added another link in my post where you can read more about that.

    Thank you for stopping by. :)

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  7. Thank you for telling me that slugs are hermaphrodite. I never bothered to know more about slugs before. Now, i know that slugs have both female and male reproductive organs. ^_^

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  8. You're welcome Ellanore. Nature is so fascinating. :D

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