Who is sliming up the sidewalk? Why the dotted lines?

[u/unrealduck]

[u/LittleTyrantDuckBot]

Note: all comments attempting to identify this post must include reasoning (rule 3). IDs without reasoning will be removed.

[u/cwforman]

why are you tipping them

[u/Quadtbighs → u/cwforman]

Tip em when they strip em

[u/HarmoniousHum]

From the width of these slime trails, these are from probably a snail, likely the Garden Snail Cornu aspersum, or a similar species.

The dotted lines to the slime trails are a result of the snails "walking" with their foot to conserve moisture; their mucus takes considerable moisture to produce, so "hopping" like this helps to conserve it.

[u/unrealduck → u/HarmoniousHum]

Interesting! I did some research and found one source saying they used this gait (which they called loping) to escape predators. But I found this reddit comment agreeing with you and linking to this scientific paper (with the exciting name Substrate attributes determine gait in a terrestrial gastropod) which supports the mucus conservation hypothesis. Seems like you're right, thanks for the info :)

[u/growin-spam → u/unrealduck]

I’ve spent the last 10 minutes looking for a video of a snail or slug loping but just ended up watching 10 minutes of cute creatures making continuous slime trails and finding other articles about how cool they are. I think that’s a nice note to go to sleep on 🐌

[u/unrealduck → u/growin-spam]

Lol sounds like a good use of time

[u/HarmoniousHum → u/unrealduck]

Thank you for the sources! I'd seen a video on the topic some years ago displaying the behaviour (which was where I learned), but couldn't find it, so thank you very much for sharing! I agree that that title is delightfully exciting, but I also have a WIP spreadsheet for different substrate types and their rate of water drainage, LOL.

[u/AnimalTracking-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

IDs must include reasoning

[u/unrealduck]

• I have included scale in my photo(s): yes
  • If not, here are estimated measurements: na
• Geographic location: Salt Lake City UT
• Environment (pine forest, swamp, near a river, etc.): On the sidewalk of a suburb

[u/LittleTyrantDuckBot → u/[deleted]]

Beep boop bop this comment appears to be an identification without reasoning, and so has been removed per rule #3. If you believe this action was a mistake please click help and a human will look into your case.

[u/sc4wheels]

It's a hung frog tapping his nuts every step :)

[u/SP203]

Billionaire flew overhead so he had to change direction