The Lobsters Have Arrived!

A Beautiful Lobster Mushroom!

It is HUGE! 

After yesterday's rain,  Cheryl and I took a day off to chase down the mushrooms again.  This time in the forest where we found the deer that eat Boletes.  Our target was specifically the boletes, if we could find them again.  But we were surprised by an even greater find...  LOBSTERS!

Cheryls scans for more Orange! 

She finds some! 

For those who do not know, or have not read this blog before... because I love talking about mushrooms all the time....  Lobsters.. are not actually a mushroom.  It is a fungus that attacks a read mushroom at the DNA level,  utterly transforming it into this delicious, orange monstrosity!   They are very tasty.   I think they are one of Cheryl's favorites.

This Lobster is a little Old and Bug
Chewed....

Another one hidden under some
leaves.

After searching the place where the deer had munched on the Boletes,  I found a husk of a Lobster.  We both thought it would be a little early for Lobsters as they tend to arrive in the late fall.    It did not take long before we stumbled upon a patch of more.   And they were Fresh and HUGE! 

Megalaspora next to our basket. 

Russulas Galore!  Hurry up and
Become Lobsters!

Normally, they take over members of the Milkcap and Russula families.   Russulas tend to be small, but plentiful in those woods.   Perhaps these Lobsters were formerly Swamp Russulas or the Green Netted Russulas.  They dent to be larger and thus, seem like a likely candidate.

A King Bolete!

And another one! 

There were other mushrooms, of course.   I took a bunch of pictures but will spare you the scrolling.   Most of them( not all) are located here:

Deer coming to eat Boletes? 

She runs away when she sees us. 

As a  final note,   Cheryl and I found several "stumps" of what had to be Boletes ( based on their size and sturdiness.) I imagine the Deer had been snacking on them as they grew in the rain yesterday.   On the way out of the forest, we saw yet another deer right around another Bolete patch.   It appears everything likes to eat those Boletes... Slugs, bugs, Deer, and even the occasional squirrel. 

Deer ate most of this Bolete!

Lots of Russulas with little
"bites" out of them. 

There were lots of  Field Boletes and Small Russulas with a "squirrel sized chop" missing out of it's cap.  I have seen videos and read lots of forums accounting that squirrels seem to enjoy eating the Russulas.   Maybe they are not bothered by the sharp, peppery taste.   Or maybe they are seeking the Bare-Toothed Russula that tastes like almonds!  ( Those are the ones I'm looking for when I harvest them.)  But they do eat acorns, and those taste awful!

The nice thing about The King Bolete, is their large size.
It only take 4 mushrooms to fill a bowl. 

Nice bowl of Field Boletes.
(And LOBSTERS!) 

So, I'll try to keep this post short (-ish) and basically catalog the Lobster find!   Lobsters in July in Iowa!  Maybe it is not that unusual, but it is the first time for us.  And now we will have  a record for Future Ethan and Cheryl to go by. 

Much larger than that first time. 

Chanterelles after a rain. 

Cheryl pointed out that we should just not bother looking until after a rain.  It does seem to make the forest produce more if we wait a day or two after a good soaker.   It makes sense that the ground mushrooms would fair better in damper conditions.  And although the Chanterelles were not as numerous today, they were certainly larger than before!   I think the Field Boletes were the big winner though.   It doesn't matter as they will all taste great in a tart!  I can hardly wait!