And also: The Crab Grave and Egg Finds
Many small wonders today. On our journey down a long gravel road at Priest Pt. Park our forest preschool group encountered a Pacific Sideband snail...but it was moving fast! For a snail this one was practically sprinting across the path, and though we crouched down to look closely, and put leaves in front of it to see if it would like a meal, the snail did not retreat into their shell!
"Where could they be going in such a hurry?" the adult asked.
"They must be late for lunch," one child said.
"Yeah, it didn't even eat the leaf I gave it," another said, "Hi snail, are you hungry?" the child continued in a high gentle voice.
"Look their eyes don't even hide." a child observed.
"You can even see the tail!"
"It's tentacles are really fully revealed, and snail is spread out so we can see every part!" said an adult.
"That is a really brave snail!"
It was truly a great moment to see a snail in action.
Later I found a blog entry on Nisqually Land Trust and learned these snails shoot little arrows of love after mating--worth reading Nature's Cupid: the Pacific Sideband Snail.
Also on this journey: we found a robins egg shell and a crow shell and marveled at the size difference. Good time of year to bring some books about eggs and hatchlings. We found a small dried Dungeness Crab shell with all parts. The kids negotiated and finally decided to make a grave for the crab by wrapping them in seaweed and piling stones around. We encountered a young rabbit, which it turns out was also quite brave.