I don't always find morels, but I always find something. This year I hit the buckeye's at peak bud.

Fun Fact 2 of 5: In olden times, buckeye wood was used to make artificial limbs. Learn more about this tree's place in history here.

March 2021

Bean the Bengal goes spelunking.

yummmmmmorels...

I know a lot of people bread and fry them but I decided on sautéed in butter and salt. I'm also anti salt water bath. Instead I subject them to the kitchen sprayer attachment and dry them before cooking.

The penguin of beetles.

He big He chonck

Omg it's so cute

Doo doo doo. Look at this mite. Doo doo doo.

I have no idea what type of mite this is. Except, that it's a...

you guessed it....

a MIGHTY MITE

MO secret morel spot, 4/18/21.

I don't always find morels, but I always find something. This year I hit the buckeye's at peak bud.

Fun Fact 1 of 5: A natural insecticide paste can be made from the nut and used to bind books.

March 2021

o no me too

it’s easy to forget, so I’ll remind y’all: you can make fantasy versions of anything. yes even things you might not think about. like soil types. I am thinking of fantasy soil types right now

perspective

I usually don't reblog "ads" but when I do, they are of THIS. THIS RIGHT HERE.

First time I’ve been able to completely restock a pin that has sold out! All my enamel pins are at https://www.etsy.com/shop/scythemantis

Today's catch.

One fish.

Second fish.

A very nice jelly fungus along the way.

Yellow fish.

Mushroom hill and my dad. We must climb!

We made it. Hilltops are the best!!!

Gray fish. Seriously the only one found on the magnificent hilltop. 🤪

Got um' home! Fryin' um up Sunday!

Secret spot, Missouri 4/17/21

As of 4/16 my 2021 morel count is 4. That's not so great, but I've got the weekend coming up. Wish me luck.

What I have caught so far has been very delicious. Anyone else have a morel addiction?

How Can I Tell If A Daytime Person Is Healthy?

If she is moving with purpose, looks alert, looks like she's doing something useful, she's likely healthy. If her limbs are working properly, if she is able to move without trouble, she is probably healthy. If she is not afraid of you, or just sits there looking at you, she is still probably healthy, because most people are not afraid of people. She will soon walk off, in good health, to forage elsewhere.

More info on raccoons you can turn into zombie stuff here.

by the time this pandemic ends I’ll have to be slowly rehabilitated back into society like a raccoon or I’ll get scared and start biting 

He's got the high ground.

Honestly, he really does. Every other peeper I saw was sitting in clumps of grass, or in the leaves like a potential Sith. He's on a stick. He is so high.

Maybe Ben really did get all the babes...

the frogs at falling spring mill

Nearly a decade ago I toured the springs of Southern Missouri and Arkansas with some friends. The mill at Falling Spring was constructed in 1927. It is accessible to the public today. A family cabin still stands across from the mill, but no human inhabitants remain. The frogs are happy for the quiet pool.

Likely bullfrog froglets, Winona MO 2012.

"The Falling Spring area was homesteaded in 1851 by Thomas and Jane Brown of Tennessee. Today, the Thomas Brown Cabin sits across the lake from Falling Spring Mill. In April of 1929, a great-niece of Thomas Brown — Dorothy Thompson — recorded this memory, as told by her grandfather, James Thompson: " - State of the Ozarks

We crossed the Mississippi River at what was called Green’s Old Ferry and we crossed the Ohio at what was called Golconda in an old horse boat. In that company were 17 persons. They were the Brown Family and my mother’s two sisters (named Fowler) and the Reaser Family. On reaching Missouri, the eldest brother, James M., shook hands with each of his brothers and sisters, bade them farewell, and departed northward, settling in the St. Joseph area. The rest of the company continued to Oregon County.

no thoughts

only boophis

Today's catch.

Waiting for the weekend...

We put some nuts out for the chipmunk. Look at those cheeeeeeeks!

BAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Wait-

an adorably toxic nightshade

Devil's potato is sometimes called bull nettle. However, it's almost always referred to as horsenettle. (Come on you can't blame me for leading with DEVIL'S POTATO.) It is toxic to humans and farm animals.

If the flowers and berries remind you of tomatoes' it's because our favorite red vegetablefruit is also a nightshade, along with potatoes, eggplants and bell peppers. Fear not, the levels of bothersome alkaloids in typically consumed nightshades shouldn't cause you any trouble. But don't eat the green parts of potatoes just in case.

When I first took these images, I had no idea what the plant was. I also didn't see any of it's tiny thorns. Luckily, no one got stabbed.

Solanum carlinense. St. Charles County, MO 2013.