Raccoon

On our routine walk Sunday afternoon we came across a couple of young raccoons playing in an open area up by the gate. The coons quickly scampered up nearby trees. One climbed up out of sight amongst the leaves. The other stopped in a tree fork and watched us watching him.

As you have no doubt noticed, my blogging activities (posting, visiting, commenting, replying, etc.) have been very sparse recently. I'd like to promise that situation is going to improve soon and I'll be getting back to more frequent posting, but that is not the case. This is the busiest time of year for the Treenware and Pottery crafts business Jo and I operate. We are currently at the end of a period of peak, last-minute production and will soon begin traveling to art fairs. It will be another month or so before I am even home long enough to post regularly. Until then, posting, visiting and commenting on a catch-as-catch-can basis is the best I can do. Once again life intrudes upon blogging.

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Raccoon

Mushroom

(Photo by Jo)

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With all the rain we've had recently, mushroom are really starting to pop up all over the place.  And, they say more rain is on the way. 

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Mushroom

Fungus Kills Grasshoppers

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Late June and early July of 2007 were warm (typical) and wet (atypical).  One result of these warm and moist conditions was a fungi population boom.   I don't know if I've ever seen so many mushrooms on the forest floor and alongside the road.  Another result was a lot of dead grasshoppers.  As it turned out, a fungus was also responsible for killing the grasshoppers.

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As I understand it, the grasshopper killing fungal spores are always present, but under the right warm and moist conditions, they too experience a population boom and corresponding increase in the rate of grasshopper mortality.  I've noticed maybe a half dozen grasshoppers in the typical fungal death pose this past summer.  In 2007, I'd see four or five per day.

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An interesting aspect of the grasshopper fungus is that as it multiplies within the hopper's body, the fungal infection causes the grasshopper to climb as far as it can get toward the top of a plant stem or stalk where it holds on tenaciously even after death.  Fungal spores are released as the dead grasshopper's body decomposes.  Being high on a stem or stalks helps the wind borne spores spread over a wider area.

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More information on one species of grasshopper and fungus.

Fungus Kills Grasshoppers