LImax Maximus – Photo: L. Weikel

Big Guy On the Road

Oh my goodness – the weather today. It was simply one of those singularly stupendous examples of summer-on-the-cusp-of-autumn perfection. And as we embarked upon our usual round, Karl and I encountered this big guy on the road, a creature not commonly found making its way unscathed across the macadam of our country road. At least, not commonly found by us anyway!

Spartacus was the first to spot it. He seems to recognize that it’s praying mantis babies getting squished by cars season, so for the past few days he’s been frantically darting from one inert splat on the road to the next. Praying mantis roadkill was always Sheila’s most favored delicacy. She was uncannily adept at prying them off the road at the perfect angle to keep them fully intact, rewarding her with an entire mouthful of green goodness.

I’ll be honest: Over the past few days I’ve pried a few dead mantises off the road and brought them back to Sheila. She may be too frail to walk very far anymore, but she still gobbles these seasonal treats with astonishing gusto.

Leopard Snail

Which leads me back to our discovery of this magnificent specimen today. Spartacus approached it enthusiastically but immediately eschewed its plump moist body as definitely not the hoped-for praying mantis carcass. It caught my attention, though. What was that odd…thing?

As can be seen, I dutifully documented our discovery for all our benefit, at first just giving it its due. But its rather gargantuan heft could not be appropriately appreciated without context, so I provided my toe for perspective. It should be noted, I am not one of dainty feet. This snail is a monster.

As I extolled the snail’s unique beauty, documented same, and debated with Karl the merits of messing with its destiny by moving it across the road in the direction it appeared to be heading, I also managed to locate a small plastic bag in my pocket that enabled me to pick it up and help it cross the road. (I’ll admit, it’s inability to deftly dodge cars nudged me in the direction of potentially interfering with its karma.) I carry this snack size zippered bag in my pocket precisely so I have a place to store the praying mantis detritus that I bring home for Sheila to remind her of better days.

See? Everything is related.

Look at that Face

At this point, it feels important to state that in eastern Pennsylvania I do believe it is a common colloquialism to refer to people in general as ‘guys.’ In ‘these parts,’ as they say, when we use the term ‘guys,’ we are not making a specific reference to friends (usually) of either male or female persuasion, but rather ‘whomever’ – in other words, everyone in the general vicinity to which we’re referring.

So you might have bristled somewhat at my reference to this being a ‘big guy’ – but in fact, as an in-depth reading of this link on Leopard Snails reveals, they are in fact hermaphrodites. So, even more appropriate that I referred to this specimen with the colloquial expression ‘guy.’

And wow – they’ve got quite the acrobatic means of reproducing, too.

Finally, I ask you: how could you not love that face? And its name: Limax Maximus.

See, you just never know what you’re going to read about from one day to the next with me. It’s all part of the magic, you guys.

 

(T-447)