Red stems

While walking this morning I spotted something red on the side of the road that I had not seen before.  Of course, with my eyesight I am sure there are a lot of things out there that I have never seen before but never mind.  At first I thought it was berries of some type but then I looked closer and it was part of the stem of some species of cactus.

 

 

We have a lot of this type of cactus around here but I have never seen it turn red like this.  I guess it might be because it has been so dry this summer.  A lot of things change because of no water.

I walked on down to Pebble Beach and the Buzzards are still there but not as many and those are just picking over the Carcass.

Then I come back home and see this creature crawling up my wall.  It is a slug of some type but I have never seen one so jet black before.  Normally they are a dark brown and much thicker.  At first I thought it was a Caterpillar but after looking closer I could see it was not.  Maybe it is a new breed and is a cross between a Slug and a Caterpillar.  I wonder if they are good for fishing?