Neighborhood Nature: Meet a Banana Slug!
Category: Blog, Family Friendly, Hidden Nature, IOOBY, Rooting Youth in Nature
By LandPaths Staff
April 27, 2020
by Jessica Holloway, Senior Education Field Specialist
With all this time at home, we’ve been noticing all kinds of cool creatures cruising around outside, like these Banana Slugs!
Use the following questions to make observations and think like a scientist while you’re out exploring the natural world.
- What do you notice?
- What do you wonder?
- And do they remind you of anything?
Learn more science exploration routines from Beetles Project here.
- I love banana slugs. For one, they are super slimy and the slime (or mucus like we have in our bodies) is actually made up of liquid crystals and is both a lubricant AND an adhesive. So COOL! It’s glue and makes things more slippery? What?!
Check out this short and fascinating video from KQED Science to learn all about the amazing properties of their slime.
And just to get you even more interested in Banana Slugs (as if that were even possible!) did you know that there are definitely three, but maybe as many as nine species of Banana Slug in California? Check out this article in Bay Nature to learn more. Just goes to show, nature is full of surprises!
Can you find a Banana Slug where you live? Share a photo in the comments if you spot one!
