Wednesday, August 11, 2010

The last photos

I just read Ratty's blog http://everyday-adventurer.blogspot.com/ on the mushrooms he found and I remembered that I had photographed mushrooms the last trip I took into the forest too.  They weren't glowing like his but very large.  I wish I had put something beside to compare, as this one was larger than my whole hand.
 Then of course remembering that I was in BC where they grow something called Magic Mushrooms I had to take a look on Google to see what they looked like.

Apparently magic mushrooms look quite different.  I wonder what brave soul tried one to find out they were hallucinogenic.

This next photo was a funnel spider that was below a tree being eaten by Carpenter ants.  You can see the web is full of sawdust which helps make it stand out.  It probably didn't catch many insects because it was so obvious.
I took a small twig and tried knocking at his door very gently as if a bug was caught in his web.  It took about 10 minutes of trying different tactics to get it to poke it's head out.  I wanted to see what kind it was, as we have the dangerous Hobo spider http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobo_spider here and having seen them before would have been able to recognize it.
It was early in the morning and before I changed position, I was casting a shadow on the web which probably convinced it, I was more predator then prey.
I could see it moving about inside it's little living area but it would only look out the door never fully appearing.
The mosquitoes that annoyed me all night long must have known my intentions because if I could have slapped one of them, I probably would have put it in the nest, although on second thought it did seem cruel so I finally gave up.

These were the final interesting photos from that trip and thanks to Ratty's post on mushrooms, I remembered them.

10 comments:

  1. Take a bite and you will grow tall, in Alice and Wonderland.I had a similar looking group growing around a tree in my front yard and they became cup shaped with age.I do throw a bug into the web to see the resident in action.I pulled 2 dragonflies out of one while fishing the other day, never saw a spider so figured it was abandoned.

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  2. Your mushroom does look very much like the ones Ratty posted. I can't believe yours grow so large. I seldom see mushrooms due to the hot and dry weather here so...this was a treat.
    The spider web is interesting.

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  3. I looked up that spider and I don't think I'd want to disturb him!!!

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  4. Yes, that Ratty! I have a mushroom in my yard about the size of a soccer ball too!! I must get my camera out and shoot it.

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  5. Great photos.The spider web is very unique.
    Blessings,Ruth

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  6. your mushroom may not be glowing like Ratty's but it's still very cool and apparently huge.

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  7. That 1st pic in my new blog is a common milkweed, asclepias syriaca, found east of the Rocky Mountains throughout North America. It attracts Monarch Butterflies as well as many other insects.The spherical umbrel flower is unique and always catches my eye.It produces huge seed pods that are full of seed attached to a silken umbrella to blow in the wind. There are 11 species of milkweed on the prairie around here, each with a different flower and leaf. I have a lot of shots I am sure if you would like more.

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  8. Mushrooms are some of the most interesting things to find. There are so many different shapes and sizes. I used to give them no thought at all until a few other bloggers pointed out how fun they can be. Finding a spider can be a fun thing too. It must have been something knowing that spider was probably looking out at you.

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  9. Fun post on your nature adventures. Love your descriptions of knock, knock, knocking on spider's door!

    Thanks for leaving kind words of support on my blog. I appreciate them more than I can express.

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  10. Great mushroom! This is I guess the king of the mushrooms. (lol)

    Cruel ants the poor spider must been too weak to fight back from the ant bites.

    Great photos my friend! Care for a cup of coffee?:)

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