Leopard Slugs...not quite the shapeshifter I was looking for.

My 14yr old wanted to earn some extra money so I got her to clean out a weed invested area next to our car port. About fifteen minutes later she comes running/screaming into the house and proceeds to do the icky dance in the hall way while shreaking 'OHMYGODOHMYGODEEEWWWWWOHMYGOD!" at the top of her lungs.

I come running as does her sister. I'm thinking she's amputated a digit with the shovel, bitten by a spider, has leeches on her legs...(okay there is no water there but her reaction was the same as when I see leeches) As soon as she sees us she yells "I almost died!" and continues to shudder and ickydance in place. The overly dramatic scene she is treating us to take my anxiety down several notches. Now I'm thinking.. garter snake, a big spider pile of potato bugs or earwigs. Both reasonable excuses for an ickydance but not life threatening.

This isn't the first overreaction I've seen from the drama princess (the nickname is very appropriate) and I'll admit I was a little apprehensive when she dragged me outside to "kill" it. Turns out she'd overturned an old brick and found this guy underneath.

Leopard slugs - striking fear int the hearts of teenage girls

I wish I'd put something next to him to give a sense of proportion, but this guy was HUGE. longer and thicker than my thumb. Creepy yes, but certainly not deserving of corporal punishment. I got a shovel and scooped him up and took him to the back corner of the yard and tucked him under the hedges. Of course the drama princess wasn't happy because it might come after her in her sleep. LOL

"Don't worry" I assured her. "It's too young for it's fangs to have grown in, and the poison would've only paralyze you not kill you, as long as you avoid its stinger. It's a slug so I'm pretty sure you can run faster if you find another one."

She knows me well enough to know I was probably joking but it didn't stop her from changing out of her flipflops and into a pair of boots. LOL She finished the clean up and earned her shopping money. Apparently  a new top trumps leopard slug paranoia.