GASTROPODA!

In my last post, I mentioned the darker-skinned Apple Snails. This isn't the darkest one, but she's the one I could find today.  (I say "she" because I saw her laying eggs. They're not hermaphroditic.) One online aquarium stuff supplier is selling these as just "Black Apple Snails" or "Mystery Snails." My guess is that they're the same creature with dark skin or light.

And, no, this is not the actor who played Davy Jones in Pirates of the Carribean. (She gets that all the time.) They cast a look-alike for that role, someone who could work longer out of water without drying up.

Above: Size comparison. Apple Snail versus Ramshorn Snail. 

At night, these Ramshorn Snails are absolutely everywhere. They don't seem to eat that voraciously, so it's no big deal. A super-neat thing about them is that they can crawl on the underside of the water's surface without breaking the surface tension. You just see the underside of their foot. I'll have to get a picture of that for you. (The type of Ramshorn Snail I have is, I believe, Planorbis planorbis.)

Below: The gooey clear stuff is snail eggs. The lower glob of the two, which is neatly arranged in concentric circles (and looks kind of like a tiny ringworm here) is definitely laid by the Ramshorn Snails. The more prominent glob is probably from the snail pictured here.

That little guy is what they call, ever-so-specifically, a Pond Snail. After a little research, I think she's Physa sp. a.k.a. Physa Snail, Pouch Snail, or Tadpole Snail. This type and the Ramshorn Snails came to my pond as hitchhikers on plants, rather than deliberately introduced. I enjoy them nevertheless.

Finally, I can't believe I've never mentioned Isabella Rossellini's Green Porno, a series of fascinatingly bizarre short films, starring herself, about reproduction in the animal kingdom. At this time, I must recommend  Green Porno: Snail. You can see the entire series (plus Seduce Me) at the Sundance site.

Everybody Loves Apple Snail Eggs

Above: Clutch of eggs in the hatching process. Bits of broken eggshell are visible floating on the water's surface.  Below: Three of the many other clutches about the pond right now. The one on the right is the most recent of them, still a little juicy from being laid. Way below: A weird-shaped recent clutch. Funny little tail of eggs. It's unusual for the snails to lay their eggs in the sun, since they need a certain level of moisture to remain viable.

Since my previous Apple Snail posts, we've had a series of raccoon attacks and other ponding misadventures, such as an Ich problem. The medicine to help the fish overcome Ich made the water to saline for the Apple Snails, and they evacuated the pond. Or I think that's why they evacuated. They just climbed out and stayed out, dying. Big guys, they were. Plum-sized. Poor fellas.

I thought they were all gone, so I eventually added four new snails, ones about the size of a nickel. Afterward, I started finding the occasional tiny pea-sized guy with a shell so thin that even the lightest touch would be crushing. (So I didn't touch.) Their shells were transparent, even. I realized they were survivors from the last round of egg laying before the evacuation.

The cool thing is that a couple of the new Apple Snails have dark flesh instead of pale. They still breed, obviously, with the pale ones.

Even though I'm still aware of Apple Snails' invasive potential, I'm not going to do any egg abatement at this time. So many things happen that their population hasn't yet threatened overcome my pond, and I'm not near enough to another body of water to risk introducing my snails to it.

Strawberry-berry Bo-berry, Banana-fanna...

Breakfast score! Bradley went out for our usual Sunday almond croissants from the French dude at the Montrose Harvest Market and picked up the most spectacular berry trio: yellow raspberries, the awesomest juicy strawberries, and plump blueberries.

As you know, sometimes strawberries look perfect but they're too firm, too tart, a little dry, or pale inside. Only once in a while do you get truly perfect strawberries. These are they! The juice goes pouring down your chin when you bite 'em! And they're only around for ten more days, says the farmer. How fleeting is such pleasure.

We used to get sweet strawberries like this, but smaller, when I lived in Tennessee, but also for a very brief time. You almost never (or never) see them in stores because they spoil so quickly. They must be eaten right away! But that is not a problem.

It was more fun that it even sounds like to make Colonial-style whipped cream wigs for our berries.

(The amusing image of the model wearing a cheap George Washington custom is borrowed from importcostume.com. This illustrates one of the many reasons I'm glad my modeling career didn't work out, and by "modeling career," I mean my complete lack of any attempt to become a model for Colonial costumes or anything else. While we're on the subject, dancing is among the major reasons why my acting career never took off. Well, that and my experience in 10th grade Drama class. And that I feel plenty idiotic just trying to "be myself" on a daily basis. I do not mean, of course, to insult my hand model, the lovely-phalanged Bradley Paul, or any other model or actor, particularly the clearly very-confident-with-himself guy pictured above in the bizarre synthetic white wig.)

Finally, I indulge myself by including this weird picture of my empty juice glass on the glass-topped patio table. My camera's autofocus went with the reflection of the Yucca on the table instead of the rooster decals on the drinking glass in the foreground. I like the result. So I include. And conclude.

Lesser Goldfinch

Carduelis psaltria

Wild Mushrooms

I forgot to post about the wild mushroom assortment Bradley picked up at the La Cañada Flintridge Farmers' Market and the mushroom soup he made for us that night. Yum. My favorite, I'd say, are the Shiitake. Mmm, buttery. My least favorite were those charcoal black ones on the left side, which I found to have a flavor reminiscent of raw (and possibly not so fresh) Mackerel. I really like Mackerel sushi when fresh, but for a mushroom, the jury is out.

(Just now, when checking the spelling of Mackerel, I learned that cans the fish are used as currency, instead of cigarettes, in prison. They cost about a dollar, and few people actually eat the fish. More info. here.)

Panorama of the Storm Basin

When I was at Deukmejian Wilderness Park the other day, I just shot a bunch of pictures. Later, it seemed like I might have enough to piece together a panorama of the storm basin that catches debris and water draining from the Angeles National Forest on our side of Mt. Lukens (which we consider to be "our mountain"). It's there to protect our community from catastrophes like the 1934 flood. (By the way, Woodie Guthrie wrote a song about that flood.)

Up top is my panorama. (You'll definitely need to click on the picture for a better view.) Next is my view of Mt. Lukens from the Deukmejian lower picnic area. (An earlier post shows this area during the 2009 Station Fire.) Below is a satellite view that I ripped off from Google so I could add my little arrows.

Also Nice Shriveled

Calla Lily. Pencil Plant in background. Then, another shriveled Calla.

Shriveled, Not Unlovely

Anne and I have been talking about removing spent flowers and seed pods from our Irises. For reasons that may be revealed here, I delay the inevitable maintenance as long as I can. That's Eleanor Roosevelt (above and below) and English Cottage (bottom).