I enjoyed the letters in your June issue in response to the Hotheaded Ice Borers. I was particularly interested in the problems which Mr. William Peters expressed concerning the slugs devouring the spotted owls there.
Louisiana used to be plagued with the same species of slugs as the Northwest now has. As you know, the "Cajuns" (corruption of the word Acadians) are noted for their fine cuisine and exotic fare. Cajuns have long considered these gastropods to be a delicacy, particularly the large delectable variety prevalent in Louisiana. Originally, Cajuns merely exterminated these slugs as pests who preyed on spotted owls. This was done by ringing trees where the spotted owls roosted with Alka-Selzters, and whent he slugs raced across the tablets, the carbon-dioxide gas generated by the interaction of the slime and the Alka-Seltzer would gas them to death. The gassed slugs were gathered, and disposed of. After Justan Boudreaux published his first slug recipe for Blackened Slug, a large slug-trapping industry developed in Louisiana. Next followed complete slug recipe books, dealing with everything from mock raw oysters (raw slugs) to slugs cooked in their own slime to "Faux French Fries " and even "slug-sickles." The latest craze is to sprinkle flavored gelatin around the Owl trees. When the slug races over the gelatin, he gets trapped, and all attempts to free himself are for naught, as he merely moistens more gelatin. These gelatin nodules congeal and are then harvested and sold in stores as "Self-Wiggling Jell-O."
Alas, these slugs are now on the endangered species list here in Louisiana. Perhaps the people in Washington State would be interested in a trade agreement, exporting slugs to Louisiana, to feed this thriving industry. Perhaps we could exchange some of our spotted owl surplus for them. Spotted owls have gotten so plentiful here in Louisiana that we are getting tired of eating spotted owl, either in Gumbo, fried, on a stick, or any other way. (Barbecued spotted owl tastes very much like Whooping Crane, and is often passed off to tourists as such.)
David J. Doskey
Marrero, La.
P.S. Keep up the good work! Life is too short to be taken seriously all the time.
I found Ms. Pazzo's article on the "hotheaded naked ice borers" nearly
as fascinating as my own studies of the "southeastern crested
red-necked booby" (Ignoramus Appalachius). The male of the species is
identified by its distinctive beer hat, Harley Davidson tee-shirt,
protruding beer gut, dirty blue jeans, and cowboy boots. The female of
the species is identified by its 2 foot tall blonde or red crest,
cut-off tee-shirt with bra straps provocatively displayed, cut-off blue
jean shorts, and bare feet. I hope to publish my findings of the social
interactions and mating habits of these fascinating creatures in the
near future (if the noted sociologist Jeff Foxworthy doesn't beat me to
the punch).
Peter P. Nomikos
Fountain Inn, SC
Your April 1 story about the hotheaded naked ice borers omitted the most
remarkable discovery of all:
As you know, recent reports have suggested that buried volcanoes explain unusual rates of melting underneath some Antarctic glaciers. These rapidly-moving glaciers protect Antarctic ice from erosion by ocean waters, which otherwise would raise worldwide sea levels by some 50 feet. However, it now turns out that the melting is caused not by volcanoes but by huge colonies of hotheaded ice borers deep uner the ice.
Thus only these strange creatures stand between us and global catastrophe!
Prof. Imon Tuyu
c/o Mary M. Cleveland
New York, NY
