I was out watering a few plants tonight when I stumbled upon the tableau you see here. (I generally do not water, but I lost my mind a bit on Saturday and moved plants. Yes, in the middle of August. I know.)
These two were practically attached as they traversed the mulch in my garden--and yes, they're each about 4 inches long. We grow 'em big here, unfortunately.
As tends to happen lately, I dropped what I was doing and ran inside for the camera. Once pictures were downloaded, I hit Google and typed in "slug mating" on a hunch that a little slug lovin' might be what I was witnessing here.
I must have happened upon mere slug courtship, based on some of the fascinating pictures I found on the subject of "Aerial Slug Mating." Yes, really. They apparently like to hang from a rope of slime to mate--perhaps the slug version of the mile high club? If you're squeamish, the pictures on the link above might gross you out a little... but if you have a rather childlike curiousity about the natural world the pictures are absolutely fascinating.
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