boattailedgrackle's Identifications

The Red Rock Crab stood out with its large, powerful claws and a rounded, bread-like carapace, perfectly suited for cracking open hard-shelled prey. Its vibrant reddish hue contrasted sharply against the red algae.

Cap:
Size: 2-5 inches across
Shape: Umbilicate to Infundibuliform
Surface:Color Spotted orange almost like colored by stippling, some red around the margins
Dryness: Relatively dry
Texture/ornamentation:Sightly course to the touch,
Margin: Somewhat lacerate.

Gills: (Hymenophore)
Gills: Gills are absent with striations where gills would be.
Color: Absent/Orange

Stem: (Stipe)
Size: About 1.5 inches across
Shape: Terete/Tapering
Attachment Location: Central
Surface Color: Stippled orange, turning more yellow at base
Dryness: Dry
Texture: Slightly course.
Flesh: White

Growth Habit: Single/Solitary to scattered

Habitat:
Substrate: Growing directly from soil, in a mix of fir needles, fir cones, wood chunks, branches, salal and maple leaves.

Description: Off Evergreen trail, found in mixed forest including, Douglas fir, Big Leaf Maple, Hemlock, with Sword ferns, Salal, Evergreen Huckleberry and Holly with some moss coverage.

Smell:
Older ones smelled strong, and not good, like rotting seafood, fresher ones smelled better.

Other Notes: Mushrooms crumble easily and steams show signs of cracking, revealing white internal flesh.

Wish I had more and closer shots of the animal. I suspect NA River Otter simply because they do come and visit our local ponds, eating catfish, crayfish, bullfrogs, salamander larva and more.

For some reason neither the ducks nor the geese got out of the water despite its presence, although it was in run-deep / run-silent stealth mode, and I could not locate it again. I've been wondering if they sometimes make use of a vacated burrow somewhere along the pond bank.

For some reason, it was looking just a bit different (than prior NAR Otter sightings... perhaps just because I had to use such distant shots (over 100m away) The fact that iNat suggested Mink before NAR Otter, and normally nails the otter, left me a bit hesitant as well, but it's far from 100% accurate, especially with lower quality shots.

I will note, I've not seen a mink at this location before, but had seen not far away where I previously lived. Have not seen muskrats or other invasive rodents here either. We do have beavers in the area, and one has been working the adjacent pond (they are trying to get rid of them).

10/01/24