Just a Shell...

...of its former self


Whatever it was, wherever it came from, whatever its purpose for being here, the alien seed pod is no more. Little is left but the tattered, weathered shell and a small amount of the spore matrix.

I expect this will be the last post for the alien seed pod, but I will check it now and then to see if there are any changes and post if there is anything significant.

In case any of you missed the pod's progress since the middle of November, here is a review in reverse order. You can catch up by clicking on any of the titles.
Still There
The Pod! The Pod!
Bunny Pants and Pod Update

Pod Watch Continues
Pod Update
Alien Seed Pod Watch Continues
Alien Seed Pod

I am still amazed that this giant puffball fungi survived the lawnmower, neighborhood kids, and dogs, cats, or other critters. It will be interesting to see if a whole crop of them pops up when just the right climatic conditions develop. I'll keep an eye out for them and be sure to post if I spot any, but for now for our little pod, click here because it is . . . time to say goodbye . . .

Still There

Progress report on the alien seed pod.


It's still hanging on. The outer shell is weathering and the interior is sinking.

I've been thinking that when I first discovered the top gone (bottom photo), it was the result of that stage of the alien landing vehicle having blasted away to return to the mother ship, leaving the spore matrix behind for colonization purposes.

The Pod! The Pod!

I fear my title is misleading. Nothing really weird or creepy has emerged and it hasn't exploded.

Curiosity is about to overwhelm me. I finally went out and poked around on it. I'm afraid a few more rainy days and neighborhood kids or dogs might be the death of it, so I'm really hoping it survives to whatever level of development is next (maybe this is it). It's looking like a bad chocolate mousse or something, but has a rather powdery, soft texture. When I poked it, "dust" came out--spores, I expect. Here's a photo and I've tried a video. Apologies for the cinematography. It was quite bright out and the image in the view screen was difficult to see (now if I can figure out how to load the video with the iPhone). You might try viewing the video in full screen mode.

When I poke it, all the brown stuff seems to either release spores or it is all made up of bizillions of spores. It reminds me of the line Astronaut Dave says in the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey, so I paraphrase: It's full of spores!

Bunny Pants and Pod Update

I just wanted to share this with you rabbit lovers out there. I found this pair of fleece pants at Target last year and couldn't pass them up.

The print features three bunnies wearing winter gear.

Two bunnies are wearing scarves.

The third bunny is wearing ear muffs.

I thought I really needed these bunny pants. In addition to being totally cute, they are warm and cozy on these cold winter nights. I would have gotten more than one pair, but this is the only pair they had. I think I was meant to have them.


For the pod watchers: no change that I can see. :-( Still debating whether to take matters into my own hands, but I'd like to see what happens naturally. There's also a bit of the Pandora's Box aspect to it that makes me want to leave it alone. I'll give it a few more days...

All this work and worry over the pod takes a lot out of me physically and intellectually. I think it's time to put on the bunny pants and have a nap.

Pod Watch Continues

I haven't noticed much difference since the last post. I am really tempted to poke it or smash it, but I'd also like to see what happens if it is just left alone. However, if it just degrades into an eroded blob, I will be disappointed. Unfortunately, I think that is probably going to be the outcome. Here's the latest photo. Not much appears to be going on externally.

Pod Update

The other day before the cold, wet, rainy, snowy weather, our alien seed pod looked as though it had been sprinkled lightly with sugar. Today it looks like a cupcake with the icing nibbled off.

Thanksgiving Day

Looking like a pumpernickel bun

Today after the rain and wintry weather

It was difficult to determine whether the white stuff was a powder or granular. I didn't want to touch it because I was afraid the whole thing might collapse. I also wonder if the white substance was spores or another type of fungus or mold.

I am enjoying watching the progress of the puffball, but is difficult to resist the temptation to stomp it and watch the fine, powdery spores spew up into the air. After the wet weather, I'm wondering about the condition of the spores inside. I am also amazed that the children in the neighborhood haven't noticed it and destroyed it. Thanksgiving Day I found a smaller one in the grass under some leaves about a foot away from this one. It had seen better days and had either collapsed or had been squashed. A fine mist of spores came out when I poked at it with a stick. I glanced at the smaller one today while making photos of the larger one, but didn't attempt any closer investigation.

Alien Seed Pod Watch Continues

After a few days it's looking like this. A quite overbaked biscuit. I'm wondering when it will explode and spores will be released everywhere.

(Wow! My first attempt to post from my iPhone. I wonder what it will look like "on the big screen?")

(Only seemed to need a slight amount of editing. One thing I can't quite figure out is the "Huntsville Huntsville" in the "Location" area and don't seem to be able to remove the extra Huntsville here. I did not see a place to add labels, so I've had to do that on the computer.)

Alien Seed Pod

This strange thing has been growing in our front yard for several days. We suspect alien activity and this is probably a seed pod left by the extraterrestrial visitors.




PetCat is willing to investigate from a distance.




A quarter is contaminated by being placed upon the pod to give a better idea of the size of the thing.



I dare to get close enough to almost touch it. The frame of reference seemed better using my hand than the quarter. It is about the size of an orange.



I don't think I've ever seen a puffball quite so large, although they can get much larger than this. This one is growing in an area of the yard where we've had fairy rings develop in the past.

Told ya it was an alien seed pod.

Check these links for more information on puffball fungi and fairy rings.

http://americanmushrooms.com/edibles3.htm
http://www.mushroomexpert.com/puffballs.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvatia_gigantea
http://www.mushroomexpert.com/fairy_rings.html
http://www.coopext.colostate.edu/TRA/PLANTS/fairing.shtml