Nau speak: Vegas: Snails' trails

Slippery, slimy, squirming, sliming, slithering, squishy... Snails are ripe fodder for alliteration! How do you feel about the little guys? For many, they're a vermin, the foe of a meticulously tended garden when they find their very slow and determined way to the leaves and start munching away. In some cases, they're the inspiration for creepy crawly comics, like the awesomely unnerving kind drawn by the fabulously talented Juwhoseto, whose comics have provided the inspiration for movies like Uzumaki and Tomie (for those of you who are into Japanese horror flicks). As a nearly lifelong resident of an extremely arid and inhospitable environment to snails, they've become something of a novelty for me. We don't get to see the cute little buggers too often because there's rarely enough ambient hydration around the facilitate any sort of life for the salt and sun-phobic guys.

We're certainly not afraid of snails, if you remember Antho's enthusiasm upon encountering them in San Francisco when we found this cute fella and bonded during our hike. Since we don't get to encounter them in our native state of Nevada, especially here in Vegas proper, too often, it tends to be quite a moment when we do stumble upon some. We're fascinated by life in its myriad forms, whether it be friendly road-side goats in Glendale or an aquarium in San Francisco, tortoises or our beloved little squeaker friends, animals are awesome! So why wouldn't we love snails in all their slime-coated goodness? Heck, I even love their mucin for slathering my face during my skincare routine, as my skin seems to soak it up and become super-duper soft. Snails are amazing!

So it should really come as little to no surprise to you, my lovely readers here, that Antho was exceptionally excited to stumble upon this little ecosystem right here in the heart of Vegas! All it takes is a semi-regular stream of water and suddenly life flourishes, whether it's the moss or the snails, grass or some other creepy crawly thing. While some places are inundated with snails, like I said- here in the middle of the desert they're a novelty, a pleasant and unexpected surprise to pique your curiosity at nature's infinite creative weirdness. Because nature is nothing if not infinitely creative, and infinitely weird. The more you learn, the weirder it gets. Kind of like us!