carnivorous mushrooms

as a mom of elementary school kids,
i've seen my fair share of
crappy.library.books.

every week for four years,
m has checked out a book.
for two of those years,
g has also checked out a book.
that's a lot of books.

i'm not sure if their library
is chock full of crappy books,
or if my kids just gravitate toward
the crappy book section.

we've read books highlighting -
hamsters
maine coon cats
goldfish
dwarf rabbits
geckos
cichlids
lovebirds
parakeets
pugs
chinchillas
prairie dogs
ferrets
chameleons
snakes
turtles
newts and salamanders
mice
(fill in the blank)osaurus
rocks and gems (an encyclopedia)
-this one has come home at least five times-
rivers
mountains
volcanoes
lightning
etc.

i know i'm missing hundreds more,
but you get the idea.
crappy.

but then -
last week,
it happened!

g's selection -
"carnivorous mushrooms
lassoing their prey?"

woah.

"an eelworm wriggling through the soil finds itself attracted toward some curious tiny rings. these rings make a substance that the eelworm finds hard to resist. it decides to wriggle its way through a ring. it presses its body against the inside walls of the ring. suddenly, in just a tenth of a second, the ring tightens like a lasso! the eelworm is trapped."

"the rings belong to a fungus called arthrobotrys anchonia. it has many rings. each ring is made up of three cells. within a short time after capturing an eelworm, the arthrobotrys starts to grow into it. the fungus devours the eelworm from the inside."

well, now - that's more like it!
minus the nightmares, obviously.

and may we all strive
to avoid curious tiny rings.