Bugs and Slugs

It's typical that we see a praying mantis or two every year at Hawksbill Cabin.  For one thing, I suppose that is a sign of a healthy ecosystem, to have such a bug around and coming back year after year - the mantises and the toads and snakes.

So last Sunday I was looking out the window at the emerging beautiful day we had on our hands, and there was this young praying mantis crawling up the window.  I tend to see them a little later in the year, in September, when they are nearly full grown.  This little one was about two inches long - although the close-up makes him look much larger.

A little later, I took Tess around to the back yard while the coffee was brewing.  As we turned the corner on the gravel pathway, I looked down to find this enormous slug, larger than any I've ever seen.  We've had problems with them before, eating garden plants...this guy obviously got away with it for a long time!

It's nature.