You Stink!

  You know how you can be looking right at something and not see it? I think the same goes for smell. For the past several days when I've been walking back the neighbor's lane I caught the scent of something memorable, if not pleasant. And yet I never stopped to identify the smell.

 Today I was walking Parker back the lane and the scent wafted across me again. That's when it hit me what I was smelling was stinkhorn.

 But could I find the source of the odor? I walked slowly, scanning the edge of the muddy field. And there it was - actually there they were - two stinkhorns. They had come up through the mud and stood at the edge of the corn.

Stinkhorn #1 - 8:17 am - 8-17-26

Stinkhorn #2 - 8:17 am - 8-17-26

 How many times in my nearly forty years at Pinehaven have I seen stinkhorns? I could only remember one. But Tom said we found one in the nature reserve in recent memory. Yes, I find I blogged about it on November 13, 2021.

 The first  time was in a flower bed in our front yard. A tree had been cut there and I think the rotten stump gave rise to this fungus. It was a remarkable stinkhorn, huge and brilliantly red. It was not to be missed.

 Read more about the stinkhorn here. And they're common in corn and soybean fields.

08-18-26: I kept an eye (and nose) out as I  walked this morning and found another stinkhorn about a third of a mile back the lane. This one looked quite fresh in the early morning light. I didn't have my phone with  me then but when I took the dog for a walk I was prepared. Here it is:

Stinkhorn #3 - 9:29 am - 8-18-26