And finally, a solarized photo of cowshit "Solorized Cow Shit" (this ones for all you cowshit fanatics!)

No Rain. No Shrooms. Nooo Problem.

This is...OhKay with me. I can deal with this.

((Deep breathes, Breathe in...Breathe out, Breathe in...Breathe out))

Ahhhh, much better

I was thinking, that if everyone at the shroomery mailed me garden hoses, we have like 2000some members, so if everyone could just send me two 50 foot garden hoses each than I could just connect them all together and water the field myself.

I have however been very busy lately (amist the madness of this DROUGHT) writing a paper. It will soon be available for Free somewhere over the internet, entitled:
THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO: HUNTING WILD CUBENSIS ALONG THE GULF COAST, MADE EASY FOR BEGINERS (FOR THE YEAR 2000 AND BEYOND)

So keep an eye out for it!

We have had two days of direct sun. Enough to make it drier than a popcorns fart.

Did you get my e-mail GG?

Gotta run

BB

[This message has been edited by Lizard King (edited May 11, 2000).]

I am glad to see you in the mushroom hunting forum.

Do feel free to stop by any time and +chuckles+ christ, I dunno...Flame every topic you can get your little hands on.

We at the shroomery just love to hear whatever it is you try to say.

And we look forward to seeing more of this type of behavior in the future.

You have made an outstanding contribution to these forums and are thought of as a indespensible member.

Best wishes to you

Your good friend, GGreatone

CATTLE AS A POSSIBLE DISPERSAL MECHANISM
FOR PSYCHOACTIVE DUNG FUNGI: AN example:

One may ask the question, "how did these mushrooms arrive in Australia and New Zealand?" Well some species may be endemic, that is, they were already there naturally. Other species such as the above described dung-inhabiting mushrooms most likely appeared after the introduction of cattle on the subcontinent.

The first livestock to arrive in Australia were brought from the Cape of Good Hope in 1788, and included 2 bulls and 5 cows, along with other domesticated farm animals. By l803, the government owned approximately 1800 cattle, most of which were imported from the Cape, Calcutta, and the west coast of America. It was during this period that some of the visionary mushrooms mentioned in this field guide probably first appeared in Australia (Unsigned, 1973). According to Australian mycologist John Burton Cleland (1934), "fungi growing in cow or horse-dung and confined to such habitats, must in the case of Australia, all belong to introduced species". It is believed to have been the South African dung beetle which may have actually spread the spores. According to English mycologist Roy Watling of the Royal Botanic Gardens in Glasgow, Scotland, "it must be remembered that fungi can change substrate preferences and there are coprophilous fungi on kangaroo droppings etc." Some mycologists who have studied the "magic mushrooms" in Australia and NZ claim that the "use of P. cubensis as a recreational drug tends to confirm the belief that [some] farmers in early times [may have] added one or two basidiomes [gilled mushrooms] to a meal to liven it up [and still do] Margot & Watling, 1981)."

More than half of Australia's beef cattle can be found in the coastal areas of Queensland and New South Wales; and the 20 to 30 inch (500-750mm) rainfall belt of Queensland, New South Wales and Northern Victoria, generally provide adequate climatic environments for the growth of psilocybian mushrooms, especially after heavy rains. It has been suggested that "Psilocybe cubensis was introduced into Australia accidentally by early settlers along with their livestock." This same spore dispersal mechanism also probably applies to Copelandia cyanescens, Panaeolus subbalteatus and several additional species known to occur in or around the dung of other ruminants. This includes Psilocybe semilanceata and the non-hallucinogenic "haymaker's" mushroom Panaeolina foenisecii.

While cattle are raised in all Australian states, as well as in the central lowlands, recreational users have been known to export these psychoptic species to various areas in Australia from areas where they were collected.

In the case of New Zealand, hereafter referred to as NZ, cattle are the primary source for Copelandia cyanescens, but the "liberty cap" mushroom Psilocybe semilanceata only grows in the manured soil of four-legged ruminants and not directly from manure (Jansen, Pers. Comm., 1988).

The image below shows a manure pile with shrooms (Copelandia cyanescens) all around the outer edge of the manure pile. This is from spores falling on blades of grass and the manure was dropped later and the shrooms appear along the out side of the ropund pile.

mjshroomer

Egrots ARE in my opinion ALSO spreaders of mushroom spores. These birds go hand and foot with cattle...they are eachothers buddies.

Egrots search from one pasture to another, for bugs and food in cow pastures Underneath Cow dung even.

Egrots sit on top of the cows. They are the cows buddies.

Egrots spend most of their lives flying from pasture to pasture...Ive seen them flipping cowpatties looking for bugs. These birds even sleep in the pastures at night.

Of course the cows move a shti load more spores around, but these birds move them as well and over LONGER Distances.

This is the way it is in Florida.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Nic epicture mj. Ive never found that many shrooms groing off of one cowpie. The largest copelandia patch I have found was probably about ten or twelve. It must be so much fun picking all those shrooms

Yesterday while searching for more of the 'unidentified shrooms' I came across these little guys with carmel caps, growing out of ma-nu-re. These are not the shrooms I was searching for but I think you can almost see it Blue on the base of the stem

I almost thought that these were (almost) Blue, but I would have to say they didnt, they were only an inch tall. I think you can almost see it Blue on the base of the stem

Heres a shot of Two of them

This was the first fungi growth I have seen in weeks! Ugly, but it is the first time I found this sturff

I was Very Happy to see one of these red mushrooms. I think they are some type of Russula (Sp.?). The caps of these mushrooms are almost always covered with lots of sand and dirt. They are sometimes found growing when the cubensis start growing