This weekend I found some toadstools quite obviously wilfully destroyed by some passers-by.
Probably by children - as in Austria it's not so unusual to tell the kids that poisonous mushrooms are 'bad' and even encourage them to stamp them down.
Mushrooms - even if poisonous - are part of nature and the ecosystem; they certainly aren't evil themselves.
This fine specimen of Amanita muscaria escaped the massacre (German Fliegenpilz; found in Muehlviertel, Upper Austria - that's the region where I was born and grew up):
Isn't it quite a sight?
Of course I have to admit that there are a number of other mushrooms equally or more poisonous than the toadstool without being a pretty object at all. And the truth is that I haven't got a good answer to that one. I wouldn't try to convince you of the beauty of Inocybe patouillardii.
So all I can do is appeal to your good will: if you see mushrooms which might just be deadly poisonous, would you please leave them alone and tell your kids to do likewise?
I promise to keep the pictures of the lesser attractive mushrooms to myself if you are prepared to comply. If not, I might just show them here.
