What is one of Washington’s best known and least liked animals???

SLUGS! They may be nature’s ultimate recycler but to most of us they are icky.

“One of Washington’s best-known molluscs is a slug….a very big slug, to be exact. The honorable banana slug is commonly 4 to 6 inches long and sometimes can reach 10 inches. Slugs are most active at night and in dim, humid conditions because they need the humidity to replenish liquid that is consumed in their prodigious production of slime. Slime is very important to the slug. It provides both traction and lubrication and also protects the slug’s sole.”

(This bit comes from The Washington Almanac, by Andrea Jarvela, 1999.)

According to author Jarvela, “banana slugs can be eaten. Fry them after removing the slime by soaking the slugs in vinegar. They taste just like the more expensive French escargots….”

Have you ever chomped a fried banana slug?????