The Pacific Northwest is an area known for its abundant rainfall. While the moisture is a blessing in many ways, it also has drawbacks—one of which is slugs. Every spring slugs come out in force—on the roads, creeping up the sides of houses, in the woodpile—just about everywhere. And not only the little, almost-cute slugs, but the large, ugly, orange ones.
One spring when I was about 6 years old, my mother got fed up with the slug invasion. She told my 8-year-old brother, Joseph, to go kill all the slugs he could find. Now, I loved animals, even slimy slugs, and I couldn’t bear the thought of all those poor invaders being killed. So, after my brother started on his grim task, I grabbed a bucket and ran out…
