Saturday, March 05, 2011

Wormsign

Or maybe more accurately, slug tracks. After one of our recent rains I saw hundreds of these tracks in the soft mud that is otherwise known as the dirt road through the vineyard. The tracks led to and from the innumerable puddles that dot the length of the road.

They're almost like the Nazca lines in Peru, aren't they?

I think these are slug tracks because (a) I've seen a lot of slugs on the road, and (b) the tracks go in more or less straight lines. For some reason, I imagine the worms not making such straight tracks. Most of the worms I see on the road are in various stages of drying up, all curled and wriggling.

I like each of these photos for different reasons, so you get to see them both.

I've gotten over my initial urge to help the poor things by moving them into a puddle or into the grass. I figure there are plenty of worms. The worms I see are the ones who couldn't or wouldn't save themselves. It's evolution in action. Besides, the worms' death and decay add additional nutrients to the environment. I try not to interfere with another organism's supper.

Extra points if you know where the title of this post comes from.

13 comments:

  1. I don't know, but I like the photos.

    BettyAnn

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  2. love the slugtracks and yesterday's rivers;)

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  3. Maybe it is like in Death Valley when stones start moving on their own? http://mmmgroup.altervista.org/e-rocks.html
    I hope you guys have something special planned for Ken's birthday.

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  4. Slugs..I like to think of them as escargot without coats. Makes the nasty slimy things sound a bit more civilized.

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  5. From "Dune"... sign of the sandworm approaching. Love it and the photos. But are you sure they're not really crop circles left by ETs?

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  6. Yup Walt... Dune! And surely these are the sluglines on the "Plains of Saint Aignan"

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  7. I've never seen Dune either. Do you feel sorry for me yet? I ran all of my new knowledge past Fred last evening. He wasn't impressed with my new found "smartitude".
    Your Friend, m.

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  8. Don't the French eat slugs as appetizers?

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  9. leon, nope.

    sharon, yup.

    bettyann, thanks!

    evelyn, :)

    nadege, on a much, much smaller scale. ;)

    martina, hehehe.

    mitch, I'm not sure of anything...

    tim, right-o!

    mark, you need to read Dune (the David Lynch film is mostly incomprehensible). And Lord of the Rings (the movies are very good, but the books are even richer).

    michael, no, they export them to America.

    starman, but that, in itself, is a comment...

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  10. Walt, agree with you 100% about reading the books... I now read the Silmarillion until the Hobbit, read the Hobbit then the next6 or 7 Silmarillion pages, the Lord of the Rings and finish the Silmarillion. Still find bits I seem not to have read!!
    I've got all of the Dune books including the collaborations and Frank's son's books... only one complaint... which person at the publishers decided to make the 'cyclopedia a different size to all the other books?

    WV is "yabledne"... I could... for ages!

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