A slug is not a bee. But you knew that. In fact, most of us know a lot more about bees these days than we ever did, before their well-beeing became threatened by a host of things, ranging from insecticides to disease. Now that we have a better understanding of the important roles that bees play in our own lives, our concern for their welfare has increased.

This back cover will bee devoted to the often-maligned and underappreciated slug. Why? Because I find slugs fascinating. And I hope you might, too, even if you currently harbor the view that slugs are nothing more than slimy pests intent on decimating that garden you’ve worked so hard to grow. Slugs need to eat, too. And they don’t mind sharing your bounty one bit.

Slugs are terrestrial gastropod mollusks, a group of soft-bodied animals that lack shells (with the exception of some species that have internalized a remnant of their shells). The group also includes clams, oysters and squid. 

A slug moves about by rhythmically contracting its “foot” (the flat bottom side of its body), while secreting a layer of mucus. The slimy substance helps to shield the foot, protects the slug from predators by increasing its slipperiness and distastefulness, provides useful information in finding a mate and preserves its watery body from becoming dessicated.

Slugs are intrepid explorers and agents of awareness with a slo-mo way of moving through life that brings to mind the meditative attributes of Zen practices. They are at high risk for beeing haplessly squished by the mindless walker unaware of where they are placing their feet, perhaps disconnected from their own sense of beeing. 

Try to imagine, if you will, putting yourself in a slug’s shoes, or fringed foot, as the case may bee. With no choice but to move at a snail’s pace, you are very vulnerable to beeing plucked up by a beak or tongued into a toad’s mouth or spread to a smear by a much larger foot. 

If your compassion and appreciation for this compelling creature has not yet increased, consider that they are also artists who craft attractive designs by scraping up algae with a flexible band of microscopic teeth. If that is still not enough, bee impressed with the fact that they are hermaphrodites, with every slug sporting male and female reproductive organs.

If nothing else, maybee you have learned something more about this species that remains an important strand in the web of life—much like bees.