Our yellow friends - Banana Slugs

Banana slugs are an indigenous species to our area around R2 Hillside a long-time crowd pleaser, and a famous summer camp challenge. They even won themselves the title of ‘mascot’ at UC Santa Cruz!

These tiny friends can be found all over our coastal forests and are best recognized by their bright yellow pigmentation and impressive amounts of slime. Interestingly enough, banana slugs do not produce their own slime, but rather, they release dry granules which absorb the moisture in the environment around them- a unique trait for a slug and a rather clever way of preserving their energy.

One of the qualities we love about the Aptos area is that no one is in much of a hurry. In a fast-paced world, the peaceful drift of the waves and the down-to-earth people is just our cup of tea. The same can be said for banana slugs. In true Santa Cruz fashion, they are some of the slowest animals on earth, traveling about seven inches per minute and having tactics to slow themselves even further when making a steep journey downward.

If you happen to see one during your visit to R2 Hillside, we hope you are encouraged, by the little guy chuggin’ along, to take a deep breath of fresh mountain air and enjoy the gift of the moment you’re in. There is so much good we can gain from the smallest of details around us (even a slug), if only we stop and notice.

Psalm 46:10 “Be still and know that I am God.”