They're Back! (And I am not happy!)

  Sometimes I wish that I was an expert on identifying mushrooms.  I am quite sure that some of the ones that pop up here and there on the hillside are edible.  I am just a tad uneasy about trying anything that I cannot positively identify.  For instance, there is a whole cluster of the fleshiest-looking mushrooms growing down near the pier.  I figure that they must be somewhat edible simply because the squirrels and rice rats nibble on them and I have not found any dead rodents lying about the place.  I have seen the squirrels tote the huge things up trees.  Why else would they bother carrying something that probably weighs more than they do?  I am tempted...tempted but still uneasy and I have another reason not to taste these fine specimens.  I am quite sure these would be the most unappetizing mushrooms.  Reason being, they smell bad..really bad..well, horrible.  Not so much when they first pop up out of the ground but a bit later when they start to wane. It is then that they acquire an odor not unlike three-day-old roadkill. 

  While out and about this afternoon, Ms. Ez decided that she should nose about on those very same mushrooms.  NOPE!  NO WAY!  NOT HAPPENING!  I am not having another night of a violently ill dog like a couple of years ago.  She had eaten some mushrooms down by the old oak tree and they just about killed her.  Son and I spent the entire night dosing her with herbs and pumpkin.  It worked, she lived and all was well.  Also...NOPE!  NO WAY!  NOT HAPPENING!  She was not going to roll in those stinky 'shrooms this time!  I had no desire to be in the same proximity of a foul-smelling dog.  Yep, she has done this before on several occasions and it is not something I wish to have repeated.  It takes several washings before that stench is overcome.  

  I yelled at her to "Leave those things alone!"   With that she barreled back up the hillside looking a mite sheepish.  I took a sniff and was wholly relieved to find that there was no vile stench emanating from her!  Whew!  I think we caught this in time!  For the next couple of weeks, I will have to keep a constant watch on the dog while we are out hiking.  She manages to find some of the most disagreeable things!  No wonder I like the cats so much!  They do not like to be smelly!