If you celebrate Christmas, Yule, or another holiday that involves decorating a conifer tree, consider how much carbon may be trapped in it (assuming you have a real tree and not an artificial one.) Unless your tree has an intact root ball and will be planted after the holiday, it’s going to begin to decay, thereby releasing that carbon back into the air and soil. the same goes for any houseplants you have, plants in your garden, yard or lawn. Even live plants in aquariums follow the same carbon cycle!

Also, I decided to try and find another native slug besides the banana slug, which has been in multiple comics now, including its very own one-panel feature. I’ve never actually seen a taildropper, yellow bordered or otherwise, but I’m going to keep my eyes open! Unfortunately pretty much every other slug I’ve met in the Northwest besides banana slugs has been a European invasive, but here’s hoping that the habitat restoration I’ve been helping with will make a difference.

Species portrayed: coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens), giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum), western gull (Larus occidentalis), coyote (Canis latrans), Atlantic beach grass (Ammophila breviligulata), gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus), snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus), bobcat (Lynx rufus), white clover (Trifolium repens), Pacific golden chanterelle (Cantharellus formosus), yellow bordered taildropper (Prophysaon foliolatum), windswept moss (Dicranum scoparium), red alder (Alnus rubra), yellow wood violet (Viola biflora)