I came upon a small bit of jelly substance in Carlisle yesterday; initial impression was amphibian egg mass, yet I could find no embryos in the mass. Still early for "Big Night" despite the heavy rains this week.
Anyone ever come across such stuff?
Saturday, February 27, 2010
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No, never seen such stuff. Could it be immature egg mass from an amphibian, whose egg mass popped out when killed, for example, but the piercing beak of a heron?
ReplyDeleteA bit of a bryozoan mass? Was it on the shore?
ReplyDeleteIt was found beneath a hemlock, previously site of a long-used deer rub. A small vernal pool lay many yards away. Wetlands bordered on the other side; but outside of the riparian border.
ReplyDeleteWe've got a cedar out front that has cedar apple rust, a fungal disease that requires two species of tree (cedar and apple) to complete its life-cycle. Most of the time, the shrivelled rust cankers are unnoticed, but after a heavy rain, they swell up and look like bright orange starfish, or "wacky wall crawlers", if you remember those.
ReplyDeleteWhen I searched for "tree jelly substance" or similar, I found various discussions of other strange jellies found in the woods. Some of them are egg masses from partially-eaten frogs, but others refer to wood decay fungi.
In any case, someone should bring some to our next gathering, to serve alongside the Autumn Olive jam.