Fall is here

As summer turns into fall I have been seeing a lot more snakes.  Here's a King Snake.  The King Snake gets very big and preys upon the venomous snakes, like the Copperhead and the Rattlesnake.

The mushrooms are getting more scarce but I have found some huge ones lately.  Here's the biggest Bolete mushroom I have seen to date.  A Tylopilus.

Had to pose Copper next to it to show scale.

Some Boletes develop a cap that looks just like leather.

Here's a side view of this mushroom.

Another Bolete that can get huge. Boletus Ornatipes.

Here's one that was quite large.

A view from the front.

And I spotted this Amanita a couple days ago.

Today it was huge.

That's my camera case next to it.

Here's a smaller one.

The large pointed warts are characteristic of this Amanita mushroom.

I found my first hen of the woods mushroom.

In Japan they grow as large as 50 pounds. They are called Maitake Mushrooms.  They are considered gourmet mushrooms.

There is also research under way to determine if these mushrooms are beneficial in treating cancer; they have been shown to stimulate the immune system.

Here's a side view.

I found this unique parasol shaped mushroom.  I believe it is an Amanita not quite sure. Maybe Amanita Brunescens.

I see a lot of these turkey tail polypores. They feature concentric zones of different colors.

My first purple mushroom, Laccaria Ochropurpurea

A toad on a toadstool, I think this is a honey mushroom.

Found some puffball mushrooms recently.

Although it doesn't look like it, these are attached to the ground.

When the mushroom is mature, the surface cracks and spores are released.  When the spores are released a new mushroom can form.  Picking mushrooms or in this case, breaking open the mushroom, means tons of spores are released with the potential of having even more mushrooms develop.