Mount Pisgah Internship

So I am currently into the second week of my internship at Mount Pisgah Arboretum and things couldn't be better! I have met some really great people that share a common passion in the study of life and the environment. Quite a difference from all the years of construction! People actually LOVE (ya I said love!) what they do and are very proud of the work that they are doing. Interestingly enough a few of the people that I have met at the park used to do construction and they feel the same way that I do. Anyway, things are going great. I have spent some time in the nursery and out in the field clearing ground and planting new vegetation in the park. It's all really cool and I look forward to all the potential to learn so many great things here.

Solar Powered Sea Slugs

I like that name but the truth is that these slugs (Elysia Chloritica) consume algae and use the chloroplasts from that algae to conduct photosynthesis. The crazy part of these animals is how they are a perfect blend of animal and plant! Cut they head off of this slug and it would literally look like a leaf with veins and everything. These little guys average about 1 in. long and live in shallow areas, such as tide-pools along the east coast of North America. 

The study of slugs!

Banana Slug Ariolimax Columbianus

Who new that slugs could be so fascinating? I have only been studying these little, under-appreciated, organisms for about a week now and have learned a lot of interesting things about them. Did you know that only a few slugs are actually native to Oregon? The banana slug Ariolimax Columbianus is the most common of these species. Slugs that you find in your garden are most likely and invasive species, such as the leopard slug Limax Maximus. These slugs are faster than the banana slugs which provides an advantage because they actually eat other species of slugs. Slugs are also hermaphroditic so they have both male and female genitalia. When they mate they fertilize both ways and all slugs are capable of laying eggs. However, sometimes their penises become stuck and they then have to gnaw it off. After that they will only only be females which then creates a greater female population than male.