Wild Mushrooms

[Maria C]

I live in NYC and with the humidity and rain there are a lot of mushrooms growing in my backyard. Today I noticed two wild squirrels eating some. My question is, could these potentially harm them? Just wondering.

[Diggie's Friend]

Mushrooms range from alkaline to tart acidic; with those that are the extremely acid or alkaline tending to be toxic. Yet don't go by that alone for they also contain other compounds that may be toxic.

With some species of mushrooms it depends on how much ingested as to the level of toxicity they cause; yet with others even a tiny amount ingested can be lethal. The squirrels take test nibbles to see how they taste. Sadly, sometimes even if they are toxic they will still eat them depending on how hungry they are at the time.

In the wet seasons, we have removed the toad stool mushrooms growing in our lawns, so that the squirrels won't be so tempted. If you don't know if they are toxic or not, or how toxic they are, it's best to check each morning after having removed the mushrooms the day before, to catch the new ones that come up over night.

If you want to learn more about which are toxic and which are not there are a number of good sources available. Even then it is at times hard to tell which are edible and which aren't. https://www.shroomery.org/8461/Which-psilocybin-mushrooms-grow-wild-in-my-area

Tree squirrels are known at times to store mushrooms up in the crowns of trees to let them dry out, which preserves them longer. To support squirrels in captivity with edible mushrooms, "Oregon Mushroom" is a good source; be sure to click on the the name. One of the most tasty edible mushrooms is the Summer Chanterelle, mild and yummy. No need to feed allot at a time; just 1/2 Tsp. chopped up will do.

https://www.oregonmushrooms.com/c-28-mushrooms.aspx

[Maria C]

Thank you, that was very helpful and I will definitely pull them out each morning.