The cabbage slug is a tiny, brown and white creature that can reproduce very quickly, and a group of these animals is capable of destroying entire cabbage patches in less than a week. This pest is sometimes hard to spot, as it burrows deep into cabbages and eats them from the inside out; by the time its presence is realized, it is often too late to salvage the vegetation.[1] As a result, a single cabbage slug could destroy an entire ecosystem.[2]
History[]
One of these creatures had nested itself in the cabbages that the cabbage merchant intended on ferrying over to Ba Sing Se to trade. However, the passport attendant of Full Moon Bay denied the crops as a precautionary measure, knowing that they may be infested with more cabbage slugs. She subsequently ordered for them to be disposed of, feeding the produce to a platypus bear. Her decision was justified when a cabbage slug was released from one of the destroyed cabbages.[3]
Connection[]
The real world garden slug frequents cabbages and other leafy crops. Slugs, which are snails lacking shells, are a type of mollusk related to squid, octopodes, and tusk shells though most species live on land. They are prone to drying out as they secrete a slimy mucus coating, feed at night or on rainy days, and take shelter during the heat of the day. They tend to hide in moist, dark, cool places, such as under rocks and boards and in piles of decaying organic matter.
References[]
- ↑ From older Avatar: The Last Airbender official site, originally on Nick.com. Encyclopedia now broken, archived at The Lost Lore of Avatar Aang - Creature: Cabbage Slug.
- ↑ DiMartino, Michael Dante, Hamilton, Joshua (writers) & Spaulding, Ethan (director). (September 15, 2006). "The Serpent's Pass". Avatar: The Last Airbender. Season 2. Episode 12. Nickelodeon.
- ↑ Audio commentary for "The Serpent's Pass" and captured DVD screenshots.