Jason E. Andersen

Last week, the family and I (that is to say, Michelle and the corgen) travelled northern Arizona for a bit of vacation. We camped on the west slope of Humphreys Peak, in Coconino National Forest outside of Flagstaff. It was a beautiful ponderosa pine forest with intermixed aspen glades. Quite picturesque. It was also bombarded with cow poop.

Bonus Fun Fact: Your average cow outputs around 65 pounds of manure every day. National forests are often leased out for cattle grazing and the local bovines had apparently visited the area quite recently. Occasional grazing is good for most natural communities, you just don’t want to camp in the aftermath.

I don’t want to dwell on the poop, but I’m going to. You see, there were some very interesting things growing out of said poop. Mushrooms. And lots of them. I know what you’re thinking, I travel across the country to a beautiful place only to be fascinated by mushrooms growing out of manure. Well, if you know me, it shouldn’t surprise you.

Here is a sample picture of one such mushroom. Look how cool it is!

Bonus Bonus Fun Fact: Fungi that grow in manure are called coprophilous. It’s yet another example of how biologists like to have terms for everything. It is a Latin marriage of copro, which means excrement, and philous, which means fondness or love for. These fungi are lovers of excrement.

Isn’t biology fun?