we've been living on these 5 acres in west central ohio for a year now. three of the five acres are pretty much wild w/ a trail mowed through. we call it our bird and butterfly sanctuary. it used to be a pasture for sheep, but now everything is growing. there are wildflowers and weeds and thistles. there is also a little stream w/ cattails and fern. i don't know if this qualifies as a prairie yet, but i could find no section called "used to be pasture".

anyway, i was walking along the trail and i found the weirdest thing i had ever seen in my life sticking out of the ground. it looked like a red witch finger sticking out of the ground. it showed up when the weather cooled off and it came out of nowhere. since then i have seen a few others in the same area. they eventually shrivel and disappear. it is finger shaped, a very long skinny finger, and made from this spongy red almost skin like material. there is a small hole at the very end.

i have lived in rural ohio my whole life and i have come across some odd things, but this is a first. i hope someone out there knows what i am talking about.

http://www.fcps.k12.va.us/StratfordLandingES/Ecology/mpages/elegant_st inkhorn.htm

how did you get that? i would have never guessed in a million years. thank you so much. i hate not know what things are. with this thing i had no idea where to begin.

so at the next cocktail party, u can bring this into the conversation, ' say, i was walking in my old field when i came across some stinkhorn's.'

if that doesnt start a conversation, either i dont wanna talk to them or they are dead.

froggy