The plant pathology professor from Purdue University was kind enough to send me an opinion on the white grass plant. This is what he said: "This looks like it might be the "white leaf" disease of bermudagrass ��"which also may occur on Poa species as well as bentgrass. It is pretty rare and is thought to be caused by a "phytoplasma" which is sort of a primitive bacterium. The consensus is that you cannot do anything about it--and that the white plants will eventually succumb to competition by healthy, vigorous, green neighboring plants. Transmission from plant to plant via mowing is a possibility, however, I think it is very inefficient. Not much is known about the disease. However, based on some images of field trials in Asia, either some cultivars are very sensitive to infection, or the pathogen is transmitted with seed. I suggest observing the infected areas over time. The symptomatic plants should not be able to compete and survive very long. If the disease appears to be spreading you may need to take some action to eradicate the symptomatic plants (if possible)."

In the Ozarks one of the most common slugs were brown and had two black stripes, one on either side of the uppermost part of the back. I have seen that kind up to 4" long. The big ones I saw in Washington had to be longer than 5". KILL-KILL-KILL Or raise Guinea Hens or ducks and let them roam your yards and gardens. Guinea are scratchers though and can cause trauma to your hostas. Don't know about ducks. Do some ducks eat hostas? Les

Thanks everyone for your posts. It's so interesting to see what other people are seeing in different locations. :-) I've seen several albino and leucistic birds in the West Desert of Utah in the last few years. It's funny this thread started, because my BF and I were just commenting on the fact that we seem to see a large number of these birds - compared to other areas of the country I have lived. The best (to me) was a White Raven. After it fledged, I never saw it again. We routinely see leucistic Eurasian Collared Doves with various amounts of white. And last summer we had a white House Sparrow for many months. We also have various colors of House Finch - from the normal red to other shades of orange and yellow. I have been birding for 30+ years, but I'll only comment on these ones I've seen in the last 4-5 years in Utah. It's always fun seeing something a little different :-) Candy This post was edited by zaffisc on Tue, Feb 26, 13 at 13:15

Yup, the bill shape (it looks kind of smiling), head shape, and all white body with black primaries poking out the back end ID this as a Snow Goose. BN