Poisonous mushrooms flourishing in mild British weather kill pet dog
A family watched their pet dog die in agony after he ate a toadstool which are flourishing across the British countryside thanks to the mild winter weather.
Vast carpets of brightly-coloured fungi, even out-of-season edible mushrooms, are still growing in woodlands and damp meadows.
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.
Fred said Jake was his son's dog but they had been looking after him and taking him for walks over the last four or five months.
"He had just started getting really used to being withb us" he added sadly.
Even gardens are seeing swathes of fungi - some bright red, some yellow, some a delicate shade of orange - in a breath-taking display that rivals summer beds of dahlias and roses.
It's a fantastic, but potentially lethal, end-of-year bonus at a time when the countryside is usually shutting up shop for the winter.
Experts say the mild but damp weather conditions have created ideal growing conditions for fungus and toadstools.
Even field mushrooms, which are edible, are still sprouting in many areas, weeks after the main crop.
Tropically-coloured honey waxcap mushrooms and honey fungus are among the species brightening up gardens.
Mushroom expert John Hughes, of Shropshire Wildlife Trust, said waxcaps, which range in colour from orange, bright yellow, red and green, are springing up everywhere.
The classic toadstools, typically red with white spots, are more evident in gardens where birch trees are present, he said.
"We are in early December yet we are still in September as far as weather conditions go and when mushrooms would normally occur" he said.
"They are really springing up late this year, because we have had a dry summer and autumn, and only now are we getting more damp conditions. Warm, wet conditions are what they thrive on.
"People are perhaps taking more notice because it is so much later, when we would be expecting more wintry conditions."
The mild conditions mean a bonus bonanza for mushroom pickers, because predatory insects which would normally have been present during a September display are more scarce.
He explained "There are a lot of field mushrooms around and one of the problems is that when they come out in September there are a lot of insects and maggots, and people are a bit squeamish. But this late in the season, the insects aren't there so the mushrooms are thriving."
Fungi remain one of the world's most diverse kingdoms of life, but scientists know surprisingly little about them. They are currently creating the first genetic library of the UK's fungi.
Currently, the UK is thought to contain anywhere between 12,000 to 20,000 species.
