I have recently become a fan of Leopard Slugs.

Limax Maximus, known colloquially as the Leopard Slug, or the Great Grey Slug one of the largest keelback slugs, (keelback referring to the ridge running along the back). Leopard slugs possess the most distinctive of these patterns, making them the best. Funnily, its awesome scientific name, Limax Maximus, means “biggest slug” despite it generally not being the largest; Leopard slugs are usually around 15-20 cm long (4-8 in). The ash-black slug is actually the largest land slug species, but the leopard slug is most likely referred to as the “biggest slug” because it was classified nearly 50 years before the ash-black. I can only assume that this has driven a huge wedge between the two species and made relations very poor.

Leopard slugs tend to live near human settlements, presumably because the ash-blacks have driven them out of the woods. Except in Ireland, the leopard slugs still live in the woods in Ireland for some reason. You can find them in your lawn, your cellar, or anywhere that may seem damp. While native to Europe, they are now living in every continent besides Antarctica. Obviously, as the heat-death of the universe approaches, the leopard slugs and ash-blacks will be forced to battle over the last remaining frontier of their native planet, and I can only assume that the ash-blacks will be victorious, as long as they retain their size advantage. Perhaps the leopards can win with sheer numbers, though that may be hard considering their very strange method of reproduction. This is not a joke and I do not wish to keep discussing it. If you really want to research this, you can, it is not hard to find and is one of the distinctive properties of the leopard slug.

Back to the slug war, the other main issue you may see with conquering Antarctica is that it is incredibly inhospitable to everyone, let alone slugs. How could the leopard slug survive? Well, if you were wondering this, you were not considering every factor of the equation. This war will occur at or near the heat-death of the universe. The slugs will have adapted to the cold by now, and it is a non-factor. While this is a very popular topic among slug-scholars, they all approach the topic knowing that they will not be able to witness and document the event. The leopards and ash-blacks are the chosen peoples to live among the heat-death, and will forge into the beyond into an unknowable and unfathomable reality to us.

In other news, I have made some cute leopard slug themed collages, pictured below. Have a great day, everyone!