[obol] off topic: slug i.d.

[Cindy Ashy]

I once saw a Northern Harrier nabbing banana slugs off
the dune tops at Nehalem Bay State Park.

As the cookbooks in Santa Cruz point out, banana slugs
are a high protein yummy meal....and for birds I would
think a high energy gained/energy spent ratio since
the slugs aren't going to put up much of a fight. The
harrier I saw did not roll the slug in dirt like other
animals..she would dive for one and quickly move on to
the next dune/slug.

By the way, I've noticed there are way more brown
morph banana slugs in Oregon than in California....and
I haven't yet seen a bright yellow one here. I would
think the yellow ones would be easier to spot (but
maybe not with raptor eyes) but may also contain more
toxins.

Cindy Ashy


      ____________________________________________________________________________________
Never miss a thing.  Make Yahoo your home page. 
http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs