15 Comments

The fungus is probably a species of Ganoderma (perhaps lucidum), a root-rot fungus. Here is a Wikipedia link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganoderma.

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It looked like it was on a hemlock, so it could have been Ganoderma tsugae from that site -- thank you!

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Jul 11Liked by Heather Wall

You forgot a squirrel cause of sudden death, Heather! Electricution! Junction boxes are on top of poles in our tree-ey neighbohood. Squirrels would clamber from tree to power line, tightrope walk along same, reach pole too and box and bzzzt⚡ Squirrels would fall to ground, everyone's power would go out, the PGE power company's cherry picker would arrive, guy in bucket goes up and does something, lights go back on and we all have to reset all our digital clocks!

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Oh right! We've never had the power go out because of that, but we do have a family of flying squirrels that like to nest in the telephone/Wi-Fi connection at the top of the pole. Every few months our service gets real static-y and they have to come out in the cherry picker to flesh them out of the box. Last time they sent a new guy up, snickering in anticipation, and sure enough -- as soon as he opened the box, a family of 7+ flying squirrels leaped out into the void. Meaning his face. Power company humor is weird.

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Jul 11Liked by Heather Wall

don't want to sound joking about the death of a sentient creature. There is just sadness for me in their passing whether by predator or car or power pole. This world is a beautiful but harsh place. Just ask your service man!

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I agree -- and I didn't think you were being unthoughtful about creatures. Unfortunately, we humans are taking over more and more of the planet, putting our inventions and overall presence in the way of the creatures who were here first. Nature is red in tooth and claw -- but so are ignorant humans...

I appreciate your comments!

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Jul 10Liked by Heather Wall

We have a squirrel with no tail that walks along our backyard wood fence. I figure a neighborhood kitty might have almost gotten him at some point. That makes sense now that I learned from you that their tails can break off.

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Domestic cats -- another predator of squirrels, though they'd have to be a pretty skilled hunter to catch one!

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Jul 10Liked by Heather Wall

I really like today’s post from you. Thank you for the information that was quite informative to me. It’s wonderful to learn about all the other creatures around us. Life is beautiful and ugly and amazing that we actually have managed to survive it all. Please keep me posted.

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We have a cat that catches and eats squirrels. Grossed me out the first time I saw him do it. He leaves the tail behind. Those might be reishi mushrooms.

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I wondered that about the reishi mushrooms -- one online source agreed, but I kept getting mixed messages online. Another reason to be careful trying to identify mushrooms!

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I used to mushroom hunt, we sold wild mushrooms at our farmers market. Without seeing the under side it is difficult to identify. This guy is pretty reliable: https://www.mushroomexpert.com/ganoderma_sessile.html

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That's what another friend of a friend emailed me after this newsletter went out. Sounds like that's the consensus!

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Jul 10Liked by Heather Wall

Unless you live in asia, the mushroom is Turkey Tail or trametes versicolor. It comes in many colors; i have bright orange on my property in FL and they grow on dead wood. They are edible when young and have some medicinal qualities.

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Thank you! I've seen what's called Turkey Tail around here, but it's usually much smaller and more shades of brown. I've seen these red ones before -- they seem to turn very slimy after a while.

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