Spooky Time

The days are getting shorter, the moon is waxing, Halloween is drawing near. It's easy to notice the spooky things in nature right now. For example, when you're out walking in the half-light of dawn and a spider web catches you across the face. 

Cross orb weaver web
Cross orb weaver web (Araneus diadematus)

It's not our imagination: there are more spider webs in the fall. The spiders have grown up. The survivors are large and they make larger, more noticeable webs.  Females spiders need to catch extra food to support egg-laying. The males of many species are travelling by spider-silk lines, looking for females. Cooler fall mornings can also bring dew or frost, which makes webs more visible.

Cross orb weaver web
Cross orb weaver web in the fog

Not all spiders make classic webs that look like Charlotte's. The Sierra dome spider (Neriene litigiosa), for example, makes webs that are indeed dome-shaped, or sometimes inverted like bowls. They are interesting, but I have to admit they are not terribly spooky.

Sierra dome spider web
Sierra dome spider web at Squak Mountain


But this funnel web is spooky - we're talking Shelob's lair spooky. Luckily, it was only an inch or two across.
Funnel web
Funnel web at Squak Mountain

The web was so thick that it felt almost rubbery. Happily, nothing came out when I poked it. Most funnel weavers do not dart out of their web and attack; they lie in wait for prey to become helplessly entangled.

What other spooky things lurk out in the woods? Mushrooms that drip blood. Really. Mushrooms are a bit eerie already (many feed, zombie-like, on the dead of the forest). Some also bleed, or at least appear to.
Bleeding mycena
Bleeding mycena at Squak Mountain

This bleeding mycena (Mycena haemotopus) is only a little bloody - you can see a few drops on the cap, and the end of the stem is oozing. Weirdly, one of the chemicals responsible for the bloody color is rare in land organisms but common in marine sponges. The red fluid may have antibacterial or antifungal properties.
Silverleaf fungus
Silverleaf fungus on Bainbridge Island

This cute, ruffled silverleaf fungus (Chondrosereum purpureum) looks innocent until you flip it over: its underbelly is dripping with blood.
Silverleaf fungus
Silverleaf fungus, underside

I've saved the spookiest mushroom for last: the rosy conk (Rhodofomes cajaderi), which sometimes has blood oozing from it's top surface. 
Rosy conk
Rosy conk in Frink Park, Seattle

Spooky as they may seem, none of these mushrooms are really bleeding. The silverleaf fungus and rosy conk are probably just expelling extra liquid that they don't need. 

Still, it might be best, at this spooky time of year, to keep your wits about you, just in case. . .
Location: Seattle, WA, USA

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