7.23.2005

Be a Nature Detective

Here's the scenerio: You are walking along a mowed trail. To your right there is field that is being allowed to grow up and to your left there is a woodland with mixed hardwoods and loblolly pines. You happen upon a mushroom growing in the middle of the trail. You notice that there appear to be bite marks along one edge of the cap.

Now, you are a savy outdoors-person. You know that many animals use mushrooms as a food source. So, can you figure out which of those animals munched out on this particular 'shroom?




Take a look at the height of the mushroom -- remember, the trail is mowed.
Check out the shape of the bite marks -- are those multiple bites or does this animal just have giant teeth? :)



Ready to take a guess?

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh, goodie, a nature quiz. I'm going to guess a turtle of some kind, since the indentations don't look like teeth but more like something has "gummed" the mushroom. My other choice is somthing sitting on top of the shroom and nibbling from the top, such as a large insect of some kind. You will tell us, eventually, won't you? pleez?

SquirrleyMojo said...

ooooooooo! how fun!

I'm thinking a mouse/small rodent.

R.Powers said...

Box turtle?

Keith "Nurse Keith" Carlson, RN, BSN, NC-BC said...

Large-mouthed bass?

Errr, Saskwatch?

Keith "Nurse Keith" Carlson, RN, BSN, NC-BC said...

Hey, Swampy, do you know this blog about invasive plants? http://plantwhacker.blogspot.com/

Crowe said...

Was it a skwirrel?

Rurality said...

A fairy, obviously! :)

swamp4me said...

Bravo!! Good answers all, but Floridacracker gets the cookie. The beast in question was indeed a box turtle. (FC you'll have to come to NC to get that cookie...)

Keith, thanks for the URL for plantwhacker! Interesting site and unfortunately I am quite familiar with all those invasives :(

R.Powers said...

Neat post! And I'm not just saying that 'cause I got it right. It's the kind of nature puzzle an interpretive park ranger might ask his/her group of visitors. Hmmmm...
Oh, and Tollhouse will do just fine.

swamp4me said...

FC, shhhh...we don't say p*rk r*nger on this site. The powers-that-be might hear. ;)

Anonymous said...

Very cool question! Mind you, having just discovered the site (c/o the brilliant P. Z. Myers) and glanced over it, I would have guessed a toad of some sort.

R.Powers said...

10-4...I will not say (rhymes with ARK) (rhymes with DANGER) on your site.
Take care.