Friday Fungus: A sad tale - and probably a wise warning

Dogs have a terrible habit of eating almost everything:

Devastated Fred Marchment and his wife were walking with their three dogs at Danebury Hill Fort, a beauty spot near their home in the village of Upper Clatford, near Andover, Hants. Their springer spaniel-collie cross dog Jake, who was just under two years old, scampered excitedly into the woods and ate some poisonous fungi.

"We shouted at him to stop but it was too late - within three hours he died. It was horrible. We are really upset" said Fred. "There's fungi and toadstools everywhere. It's been so damp and warm, they are all over the place even though it's nearly Christmas."

The distraught family are warning other dog owners to take care and make sure their pets don't eat deadly fungi growing wild in the woods and meadows. 

The best advice is not to let your dogs eat mushrooms - the story doesn't make clear what mushroom this poor dog ate. Judging by the speed of reaction it sounds like a death cap - but dogs could react badly to fungi that wouldn't make humans ill.

A sad tale  - as the story relates there are a lot of mushrooms around at the moment including many of the edible species like oysters and assorted field mushrooms but we are as ever advised to be careful and to make absolutely sure we know what we're eating.

.....