DENNIS ODA / STAR-BULLETIN
These slugs are contenders in the upcoming slug races
Sunday at Hawaii Nature Center. All 40 race slots are
taken, but due to the event's popularity, more races
may be scheduled this summer. Kids, don't try this at home.
Gloves are usually worn to avoid contracting encephalitis.

Ready, set... uh,
Gooooooooooooo

Slug racing slips in a
subtle message about
Hawaii's flora and fauna

By Scott Vogel
Star-Bulletin

How long has it been since you've been to a good old-fashioned, down and dirty, take-no-prisoners slug race?

Well, that's too long.

Now, we know what's going through your mind: "Sure, I've always wanted to get involved in this sport. But how do I find other slug lovers in Hawaii? When do they crawl out from under their respective rocks? And will they be equally committed to gastropod racing? Will competitors be bringing their own slugs -- which raises the possibility of racetrack treachery -- or will we be finding them on site?"

You ask a lot of questions for a reader. Relax -- let's remember we're talking about slugs here. And remember also that the Hawaii Nature Center is sponsoring what may be the islands' largest gathering of fans of the slimy creatures -- yes, it's called "Slug Fest" -- this Sunday in Makiki.

DENNIS ODA / STAR-BULLETIN
Ati Jeffers-Fabro, senior environmental educator at the
Hawaii Nature Center, holds one of the slugs competing
in Sunday's slug race, but kids, don't try this at home.
Gloves are usually worn to avoid contracting encephalitis.

But before you make a slick, glistening trail to the center, you might want to sit down for the bad news. All 40 places for this weekend's race are taken. In fact, they've been taken for a month. Then again, should this article provoke a groundswell of slug enthusiasm, perhaps Ati Jeffers-Fabro, a senior environmental educator at the center, could be persuaded to hold slug races with greater regularity.

"I think the name is just catchy," he said of Sunday's popular event, in which parents spend the morning hunting for slugs with their 3- to 5-year-olds. ("We start losing them at 6 years old because of soccer.") Jeffers-Fabro typically begins the day with a town hall meeting of sorts, in which all are encouraged to air their misconceptions about slugs, and especially the brown and black varieties that were accidentally introduced to Hawaii 30 to 40 years ago. One of the things you immediately notice is that parents and children come with different agendas.

"The parents want to know how to control the slugs," he said, while the kids adopt a more ecologically open-minded attitude. Fascinated by the eyestalks, the sensory tentacles and the creatures' ability to crawl on one foot, preschoolers -- who are closer to the ground, after all -- see things their elders don't. (Because of the possibility of contracting encephalitis, the Nature Center provides gloves for all participants.)

As you can imagine, the excitement builds gradually throughout the morning, culminating in the main event, the races themselves, which admittedly do tend to drift toward anticlimax. Three slugs battle for pole position at the starting line, then "rush" down the 18-inch track, egged on by lettuce leaves shaken by the kids. Given their physical limitations, it isn't quite accurate to say that racing's in the slugs' blood. Still, winning isn't everything.

"Most slugs don't finish, but it's about the process," said Jeffers-Fabro, and for a moment we thought he was talking about a slug's slow march toward self-acceptance. He was referring instead to the children's education. In fact, 25,000 Hawaii children participate annually in the center's programs, starting at preschool-age when, believe it or not, there are already misconceptions aplenty about the natural world.

"For preschoolers, we teach that nature is warm and fuzzy," he said, speaking of Hawaii's uniquely benign flora and fauna. "The forest is friendly. There are no bears and tigers and things they read in stories." When it comes to the great outdoors, children have a rather weak frame of reference, much of it portraying nature in a negative light. "Most of it is stories and videos, and when you think about it that way, it can be scary."

But parents can help counteract their preschoolers' fears, and family programs like "Slug Fest" are a good way to begin the process of deprogramming. Other upcoming events, with titles like "Bubblemania," "Cold, Wet and Scaly" and "Makiki Night Life" (marshmallows included in the latter) sound equally promising. But consider yourself warned: Slots for these excursions tend to fill up quickly, as soon as kids come home from the school field trips on which they're based. That's how "Slug Fest" acquired its cult status.

That and the enormous popularity of slug racing in general. Of course.

Nurturing love of nature What: Hawaii Nature Center Family Programs When: Various days and times throughout summer Where: Hawaii Nature Center, 2131 Makiki Heights Dr. Cost: $8 to $14 Call: 955-0100

Click for online
calendars and events.