Hello All, I'm originally from Vancouver but I now live down in Costa Rica. This morning I woke up to find clusters of tiny mushrooms in my backyard. I am most worried because I have a 5 month old puppy and she likes to eat everything so i'm worried she can get sick or even die from them (she hasn't eaten any yet and I am keeping her under full supervision when she is the backyard). I have attached some images of the mushrooms (seems like two types). What is the best way to get rid of them? Why would they grow so fast (overnight?) Thanks in advance! Nick
The first grouping look to be a variety of Coprinus fungi....u shouldn't have any worries as these have never been known to be deadly. They feed off decaying wood/mulch and deteriorate in hours. Unless u'r pup drinks alcohol along with any kind of consumption it should be ok. The second grouping however...still looking...............but fairly sure they're a younger variety of the same mushroom. Keep an eye out for them turning black underneath and the caps eithe curling up or even 'dripping'.... Fungi usually has to grow very quickly...the parts that we see above ground are actually only the 'fruit' of the main body. The 'seeds' or spore is what comes out from under the caps of these...this variety will have black spore that almost resembles ink. The more fungi/mushrooms we have...the more rich soils we have...the better degraders also..to help with the breakdown of woods/composts/plant matter...many things.
Oh? And think of it this way....to many of us it's a huge blessing to have mushrooms/fungi in our yards and gardens. The benifits of so many of these is incredibe. :o)
Thanks very much for your reply! I feel much better knowing that they are not dangerous to us or our dog :) Attached are some pictures taken about 10 minutes ago. It's had all moring to dry up in the sun and seems like that is what "some" of them are doing. I also noticed some of the under parts turning black as you said to watch out for but I only see it on the ones that are dying. Thanks for your help! Nick
That is truely a large amount of such a neat tiny mushroom! I'd love to photograph them...details to me are an obsession. :o) Definately Corpinus of some sort....please note that these also are considered 'weedy mushrooms' as they can proliferate very well in lawns. One of my favorite edibles Shaggy Mane, is my favorite of any mushrooms to eat. These tiny ones can be hard to ID sometimes strictly because there are so many in this family with very similiar looks...plus spore prints are very difficult to obtain due to the deterioration of the caps. You'll probably see these frequently popping up...especially after fresh rainfall or heavy dew.
First photo reminded me of characters from "Fantasia". Since a lot of our mushroom cohabitants have short (to us humans) life spans, any time we run across them at their peak we should feel fortunate! As C.W. says, they are---in all their incredible variety of beauty, color and form---an essential part of the ecosystem.
