With the rain soaked spring and early summer rain we have had in the NE, the mushrooms are growing like crazy. Does anyone have links to reference of photos mushrooms that can be very harmful?

Relatively few mushrooms are poisonous, but some deadly ones can be very abundant under the right conditions. If you go through a mushroom guide as I did when I first became interested in collecting mushrooms, you find that only a few genera contain deadly poisonous species.

One of the best items of information used to identify mushrooms is a spore print. The color of the spores is an important identifying characteristic. To make a spore print, take a black magic marker and color part of a piece of paper black. Set the mushroom cap, gill or pore side down, on the paper so that it straddles the black area, put in a drawer or another place with still air overnight. Usually, the spores will fall on the paper, and you can see what color they are. If they are chocolate colored, you probably have an agaric- related to the commercial mushroom. There are some agarics that will make you ill, but most are harmless. White spores are found in many types of mushrooms. One type with white spores are the amanitas, which contain some deadly poisonous species. These mushrooms have a universal veil that completely surrounds them in the button stage, making them look like a puffball. Puffballs that are white inside are usually safe, but be sure to cut one open to be sure they aren't amanitas. Pieces of the veil often adhere to the cap and form a cup around the base of the stem. There are beautiful white amanitas and others of various colors. Some are not poisonous, but a number are. I would certainly remove any mushrooms with white spores and that cup-like volva unless you get an expert to identify them as a harmless species. (There are some harmless ones that fit the description.)

I would also be wary of brown mushrooms and bright orange mushrooms growing on wood and small nondescript brown mushrooms, as there are some very poisonous ones that fit those descriptions.

We had and English Bulldog die last month from eating a brown mushroom (about a mile from my house). The people did not realize that the dog had eaten it until 2 hours later when he vomited peices of it up....he became unresponsive and his pupils were fixed ....he died before they could get to Cornell. My husband and I use our pooper scoopers twice a day to remove every mushroom that we see. We have 4 acres and I have never seen so many mushrooms before. They say if you see your dog eat one.....you should immediately induce vomiting with hydrogen peroxide---one tablespoon at the back of the throat for a large dog. If there has been more than an hour delay....save the mushroom(if you can) and get to a Veterinary Hospital. My poop buckets have more mushrooms in them than poop....thanks to this rainy summer !!

When you are scooping the mushrooms out of your yard, you can put some Borax powder on the area that they want to grow. This makes the mushrooms not grow again in that area and it doesn't hurt anything. You can put this on your lawn and it stops the mushrooms and doesn't hurt the lawn. From VAST mushroom experience!

Linda...is that the same borax as in Mule Team Borax that you use in the laundry ??

I also would like to know how to prevent the mushrooms from coming back...where to get this Borax?? I get thousands of mushrooms and it is such a drain to worry about them and try to get them up before anyone discovers one. I get the little tiny brown ones and the football sized puffballs.

Yes, it is 20 mule team Borax, Laundry Soap powder also works but not as well and there are so many other things in it, like bleach that it can hurt the lawn. You have to take out the existing mushrooms and then put the Borax on, I use a bucket and just scoop some out and sprinkle it where the mushrooms were. I don't really know how much I put on but you can see it on the ground, I don't mix it in or anything.

The football sized puffballs are harmless. I eat them myself. Puffballs in general are safe except for a few species that have colored insides. I agree that if you can't recognize the relatively poisonous species, it may be safer to get rid of them all. But do you know all the plants that are poisonous, too? You may have things in your yard that are more dangerous than puffballs!

I'm not Linda V, but yes, it is the same Borax that you mention. You can buy it in the grocery store.

I have one lawn and gardening book that says to sprinkle powder laundry detergent on the mushrooms. I neeed to do my yard.

My boss almost lost one of his dogs this week to mushrooms (Highlands Ranch, CO).

Oh believe me my local nursery hates to see me coming because I have such a long list of plants that I will not plant, and I warn other customers not to plant them if they have dogs!! I carry that list everywhere I go to buy plants. By now, the local nurserymen ask me if a plant is safe for animals..