This was the theme of my day... apart from the artifacts, which I will make you anticipate, thy're in tomorrow's post.
You may not be surprised to learn that these are in fact tree slugs, Lehmannia marginata. they eat epiphytes on trees - lichen, algae and fungi.
However, I have no idea why every one I saw today was traveling down the trees.
That's really all I have to say about the slugs.
BUT, my animal encounters continue.
I was about to take a picture of one of my Sentinel Trees when I felt something brush against my back. I turned around to see either an owl or a smallish raptor swoop off into the woodland (to the very place where the hare lay down with me). I stood there with my mouth open for about fifteen seconds. It felt as if the wing touched my rucksack!
What is it with these creatures - like the lamb and robin on Dartmoor - thinking I am not a threat... until they realise that I am a human?
Maybe I am transitioning into a Dryad? Or a Satyr?
In the story of Gilgamesh, Enkidu was a wild man, hairy and free, destroying the traps set to catch animals, but he became civilised and was no longer able to commune with the animals. He became instead the king's comrade in arms. Maybe I am a reverse Enkidu? Udikne?
Anyway. Bob and Son of Bob haven't re-established relations with me so clearly the transition is not complete. They act as if they hardly know me.
At the link, it said tree slugs go up when it rains ... so maybe they come back down when the sun comes out😎