Dayuan: part 2

This week, I have made a point of exploring the natural world around me, not just the city. I made some very cool finds!

Just west of Dayuan, I found rice fields! The plants grow in a very wet environment, and you can see there's a pool of water around their roots.

Taoist temples are ubiquitous, even seemingly in the middle of nowhere.

A lot of homes have potted plants or small gardens right outside their doors. Lattice structures like this are common - I guess this is the Taiwanese version of suburban gardening.

The species identification app I use said this was a Caribbean leafleather slug (Saransinula plebeia). They're invasive in Taiwan!

Speaking of invasive species, this is a giant African land snail (Lissachatina fulica). It's another non-native pest in Taiwan.  

Taiwan is really a hub for invasive gastropods - this is the channeled apple snail (Pomacea canaliculata), which is native to South America. 

I walked to the Taiwan Strait! It was low tide, so I got to explore the intertidal.

Intertidal snails in the Taiwan Strait. I'm hoping these are native!

Patterns like this were all over the intertidal mud. Clearly, someone is burrowed in down there!