Autumn is the season for mushroom variety, volume and variation. Add moisture and increases are exponential.

A few fruiting bodies are tasty and safe to eat; a few are deadly; but most drop out because of texture, common name, or personal preference. Sulphur shelves and maitake are delicious, giant puffballs not so much.

Admiring, photographing, marveling, and playing armature scientist with these hyphal arrangements can distract one and lead to a deer’s safety or a missed life list bird.

Still, cautiously try a few, knowing there is no silver spoon test, only true identity. All mushrooms should be at least lightly cooked, even the grocery store variety, before consumption.

Hard mast crops are improving or showing early estimates may have been somewhat premature, but walnuts and hickory nuts were not among those mistakes. White oaks are ample based on the turkeys and deer feeding nearby. Apples, too, are attracting both game animals. Check September 15.

Ruffed grouse continue to be news with possible season closure date yet to be determined. Missouri is now working to get 100 live birds each of the next three years, beginning now. These transplants are coming from several northern county public lands. Payback is likely to be money for habitat improvement in Wisconsin. This time Missouri is ready with much improved habitat for these birds to be released and successful, not as the mid 1970’s when the transplant seemed destined for failure. Wisconsin received the better of that deal with turkeys that time, although some, but not many, still disagree.

This summer’s grouse brood numbers are still being reported. The data and the DNR’s fall forecast pamphlet will appear shortly on line.

Just when trout fishing, and some other castings, was becoming respectable, floods came to several southern counties. However, fish managers and avid anglers cautiously assure us that trout can deal with high water better than we can.

There can be some positive impacts for streams, too, such as cleaning out stream sediment. Year classes after washouts are often very high following a flood. One kicker is that repair to roads and railroads may cause more damage to the stream than the flood did. Most issues relate to habitat and food base.

Bobcats continue to be noticed with kit sightings following adults. Some of the collared cats in the deer predator study are making it easier to see the animal when it darts across a roadway. Evidence is mounting, one landowner says, that some wild cats love chickens. Bobcats were not released but came calling on their own.

Birding, hunting and viewing are about to get much better as soft fruits continue to ripen. Grapes and elderberries are some of the first and best.

As young animals continue to familiarize themselves with nature, interesting scenarios appear. Young deer and turkeys find apples, acorns and almost anything can be easily found in yards, gardens and nearby farm fields.

A young cardinal bird tried to devour a large cecropia caterpillar feeding on an ornamental cherry tree, but the meal was too much, so it pecked away getting bits and pieces and rendering the young moth helpless.

A timber rattlesnake ventured out of a warm location in a solar kiln to drink rainwater while cameras clicked and others stood openmouthed.

A woman watched what she described as a “dumb” bunny make no attempt when a bobcat approached. We all know who won that food chain, although the cat was overly tame, too, allowing the woman to approach to take photographs.

Autumn colors continue to appear in small packages, including reddening corn stalks and ear husks, while the denting kernels expel moisture.

Seasonal changes continue, regardless of whether we watch for them or just wait.

— Jerry Davis is an Argyle native and a freelance writer who lives in Barneveld. He can be reached at sivadjam@mhtc.net or at 608-924-1112.