Poison Mushrooms

Yesterday I posted about hunting fall mushrooms, the reason that we got interested in hunting them was because of a mushroom incident that happened to our Pastor.

He recently took his little dog out for her morning walk in the yard when she grabbed up something white in her mouth in a playful way. He realized that it was a mushroom and yelled at her to drop it, she did drop it but I guess she didn't drop it quick enough, the damage was already done.

Within 15 minutes she was vomiting and then the bloody diarrhea began. He rushed her to the Vet. They immediately started an IV when he walked through the door with her, she was obviously dying.

They managed to save her life but she certainly would have died if he had not seen her pick the mushroom up and realized how serious the situation was. They later identified the mushroom on the Vet's computer. She was at the Vet's office for a week and doesn't seem to have any long term affects from her experience at this time.

The Vet was concerned that with the rainy weather that we have had this year, these mushrooms are in everyone's yard. He said that it is rare that pet owners actually see their pets eat or play with the mushroom or toadstool. Most of the time people don't know what makes their dogs sick or why they just get sick and die suddenly.

I am not a mushroom expert, so I won't try to educate anyone here on my blog but it would probably be a good idea to do a little mushroom research to familiarize yourself with some of the things that you commonly see in your area. There are some mushrooms that are only mildly toxic and others that are deadly.

As a matter of fact, one of the spring mushrooms that I have enjoyed from the time I was a child is mildly toxic. You would have to eat a lot of them to make you sick. But some of the summer and fall mushrooms that I have never thought about eating are said to be safe and delicious. I have tried eating giant puffballs that grow like pumpkins here in the fall but didn't think that they tasted all that great.

300th Post

With this post I am celebrating my 300th entry. I wasn't sure that I would have that much to say when I started this blog and some days are easier than others. Keeping a journal is very therapeutic for me. I enjoy having a record of dates when certain things happened and I have never been disciplined enough to write everything on a calendar or in a diary. But blogging works for me. I have already had to refer back to my blog archives to find out when certain things happened.

If I don't blog everyday, I get scolded. So it is actually a public diary. Of course, I don't write all of my secret thoughts in it but I get pretty close. Like today my secret thought is that I am glad that the NRA has decided to endorse McCain and Palin. I am sure that Palin made the decision much easier, as she is a member of the NRA. But these are my secret thoughts and not to be shared with anyone.

National Rifle Association endorses McCain - Yahoo! News

Speaking of the 2nd Amendment, my DH and I have both applied for our Lifetime Handgun Permits. I don't know how long it takes to get them back but I am anxious to be able to carry my little handgun if I choose to do so. If the economy keeps going down the tubes, then I may need to protect my Chickens and Goats from human predators and not just foxes and coyotes.

Our Pastor told us last night that we didn't need to worry about the economy, that the Lord would provide for all of us. Then he told the congregation that our neighbor, who also goes to Church with us, has cattle and that we would all have beef to eat and that we have chickens, so the whole Church would have eggs and chicken. Then someone spoke up and said that we also have goats, so he offered the whole congregation milk as well. He asked if anyone had hogs but no one did.

So, you see I am in a terrible fix, the good Lord is really going to have to bless my chickens and goats to provide, chicken, eggs and milk for close to 200 people, if we go into another depression. There are some other families that can chip in on the beef and maybe two other families that can help out with the chicken and eggs but my poor goats, plus two other pet goats are the only goats in the whole Church. He was, of course, kidding.