As I strolled the Mill Pond Trail at Yates Mill Pond Park on Tuesday, I discovered it was mushroom day! Both sides of the trail, which follows the circumference of the pond around to the mill and waterfall, were littered with mushrooms, and they were colorful and aplenty.
So I took out my iPhone 13 Pro and took pictures.
I found out the next day, when I returned for another walk, that my instinct to take pictures of those mushrooms the day before was timely.
On the Wednesday stroll, so many of the mushrooms I'd seen the day before were either gone or severely damaged. There were still a few left untouched, enough so that a family of about seven or so also on the trail had stopped to admire them.
Of course, what I can't be certain of is whether the disappearances or damage to the mushrooms was the work of humans or wildlife. I suppose it could have been a combination.
I did a quick check online and learned that wild animals such as deer, squirrels, chipmunks and rabbits often eat wild mushrooms safely. Many of those wild mammals have built-in tolerances to specific toxins (like amatoxins) that would be fatal to humans and domestic animals. Fortunately, pets are not allowed in this park, so there is no risk to anyone's dog getting poisoned by them.
While searching online, I asked to see pictures of the top wild mushrooms, and some of them resembled what you see in the pictures here. I'd always been told to never pick -- and/or eat -- wild mushrooms. I've always abided that admonition.
The good news is that I got all of these pictures in this post when they were still in relatively pristine condition. I did take one more picture on Wednesday's return trip, and I'll save it for the very end because of the reason I felt inspired to take it.
The mushrooms weren't the only reason I pulled out my photo to take pictures Tuesday. As I made my way through the Creekside Trail, I heard the engine of what sounded like a farm implement. And sure enough, when I reached a point on the trail where openings in the trees and foliage would allow me to investigate, I saw a tractor harvesting crops on the adjoining farmland.
While back on the Mill Pond Trail, I grabbed pictures of the iconic mill from across the pond. I'm not sure I've ever presented any such photos previously, so they'll be in this post as well as the harvesting shots.
As always, click on any photo to bring up a larger, sharper version.
Above: This is the mushroom photo I took Wednesday. The reason I decided to grab it is because it looked untouched, but also because its position nestled against the leaves kind of made it look like it was trying to protect itself from intruders. At least that was a thought I had when I first saw it.
