CORRECTION:
Remember this picture which I featured in
one of my recent blog posts? I identified it as snake poop. That's how it was identified to me and I hadn't questioned it. Turns out I should have. As I learned in reading
a post by Karin of Southern Meadows today, this is actually something called
dog vomit slime mold. It typically appears in mulched areas, which is usually where I find it, at this time of year. It is harmless to plants and animals, unless you happen to step on it and get it on your shoe. As the name "slime mold" implies, it can be quite slippery.
Had I spent a little time researching on the Internet, I could have easily learned that
snake poop generally looks quite different from dog vomit slime mold. In fact, it looks somewhat like bird poop, only bigger, which isn't surprising I guess since they both eliminate via a cloaca and may have some ancestry in common.
I do have snakes in my garden, but until I can catch one of them with my camera or find a
real pile of snake scat, you'll just have to take my word for it! But now you know that I also have dog vomit slime mold in my garden. Lucky me.
Hmmmmmmm, quite relieved I havn't got any:)
ReplyDeleteInteresting post though......
Admittedly, it's not very appetizing to look at but actually it works in much the same way as mushrooms and other fungi, growing on rotting plant debris and helping to break it down. So that's sort of a good thing, Cheryl!
DeleteCheck out this web site for a picture of snake excrement, The urates in the image look like the slime mold you have here.
ReplyDeleteI am so intrigued with this snake poop, haven't given it a thought. Even if this is not it, it sent me to search how a snake poop looks like. I imagine they are just some pellet-like things, inconspicuous. Hmmm!
ReplyDeleteI found white poop that looks exactly like this. There are rabbits in our yard so I'm hoping it's not snake poo! It's a powdery redish brown inside.
ReplyDelete