Found in North America and Europe, the “strawberries and cream” fungus, known affectionately to scientists as Hydnellum peckii or the Bleeding Tooth Fungus, is a fungus that looks like a delicious, sweet treat. When young, this organism excretes a red fluid that looks like blood giving the Bleeding Tooth Fungus its unique creamy-dotted appearance.
Tag: north america
Oldest human footprints in North America identified -10,500-year-old footprints smash record
In 1961, during a highway construction project in northeastern Mexico, less than 200 miles from the Texas border, a pair of tracks, one left and one right, were uncovered in the Chihuahuan Desert. The tracks were excavated and taken to a local museum (Saltillo’s Museo del Desierto) for study. Now, over 50 years later, researchers…
Gila Monster
Gila monster Heloderma suspectum Description: Robust, with a large head and a heavy tail. Its body is covered with beadlike scales. It is capable of storing fat against lean times when food is scarce. Its color is striking in rich blacks laced with yellow or pinkish scales. Characteristics: Not an aggressive lizard, but ready to…
Yellow Bellied Sea Snake – how to identify, avoid their habitat, and treatment for their bite.
Yellow-bellied sea snakePelamis platurus Description: Upper part of body is black or dark brown and lower part is bright yellow. Characteristics: A highly venomous snake belonging to the cobra family. This snake is truly of the pelagic species – it never leaves the water to come to shore. It has an oarlike tail to aid…
Western diamondback rattlesnake – how to identify, avoid their habitat, and treatment for their bite.
Western diamondback rattlesnake Crotalus atrox Description: The body is a light buff color with darker brown diamond-shaped markings. The tail has heavy black and white bands. Characteristics: This bold rattlesnake holds its ground. When coiled and rattling, it is ready to defend itself. It injects a large amount of venom when it bites, making it…
Mojave (Mohave) rattlesnake – how to identify, avoid their habitat, and treatment for their bite.
The Mojave Rattlesnake’s (also known as Mohave Rattlesnake, Mojave Green, Mojave Diamond Rattlesnake, and Mojave Rattler) entire body is a cream or sandy color, sometimes pale green (depending upon its surroundings) with darker diamond-shaped markings bordered by lighter-colored scales and black bands around the tail.
Eastern diamondback rattlesnake – how to identify, avoid their habitat, and treatment for their bite.
Eastern diamondback rattlesnakeCrotalus adamanteus Description: Dark brown or black, outlined by a row of cream or yellowish scales. Ground color is olive to brown. Characteristics: The largest venomous snake in the United States. Large snakes can have fangs that measure 2.5 centimeters (1 inch) in a straight line. This species has a sullen disposition, ready…
All about the Cottonmouth snake – how to identify, avoid their habitat, and treat a Water Moccasin bite.
Also known as water moccasin, swamp moccasin or black moccasin. Cottonmouth snake colors are highly variable. Adults are uniformly olive brown or black with a distinctive white or yellowish-white mouth (which they display when threatened). The young and subadults are strongly crossbanded with dark brown, sometimes even copper colored.