Posted by Lynne Coffin on March 12, 2008

Q: I found some strange things in my back yard about a week ago. First, one day I noticed a splotch of bright pink fluid on my back deck. Nearby were fragments of what looked like eggshell, and the pink stuff appeared to have come from inside it. Later, in a little hollow in the grass close to the house, I found a spherical object about the size of a large marble, and looking at it it was apparent that the fragments had come from another one like it. One hemisphere is red and the other yellow, very neatly and sharply delineated. The object is soft and squishy. A few days later in the middle of the yard, completely exposed, I found another one that seemed to be in the process of changing from yellow and red to all red. When I checked a couple of days ago, this one was shrivelling up/sinking in on itself, while the one near the house looked the same as when I found it. This is in Kingston, Massachusetts, in a seaside community.

Habitat: suburban/yard

State: Massachusetts

Habitat: suburban/yard

A: I can't say for sure without a photo, but my first impression is that your objects are a kind of fungus (mushroom). The material on your porch may have been carried there by a chipmunk or other animal and the fact that one of the objects kind of caved-in on itself, makes me think all the more it is a fungus of some kind. There are some species of mushroom that reproduce in the winter months (if a fungus, that object would be the reproductive structure filled with spores) but I'm not familiar with any specific species of these. Makes me wonder too if there could have been some kind of extra warmth at the locations where these objects appeared? If you get a chance, please take a digital photo of your object and send it to us - that will help us make a more definite identification.

Thanks so much for writing.

John Wiessinger ( March 12, 2008)