No, I don’t mean the movie Firefox about the Russian Jet Fighter that Clint Eastwood stole. I mean that eerie glow that you see in the dark of the night. There were a series of books written about life and times in years gone by in the Appalachian Mountains that had the title “Foxfire”. The mountain folk had a lot of tales and superstitions that included that eerie glow.
I had heard of it but in all the time that I spent in the woods, I had never seen it until I moved on this property 26 years ago. One night I saw a greenish glow coming from an old rotting log that I had accidently kicked. It is simply amazing and a little eerie. It seems that it is a bioluminescence fungus.
Not only does the fruiting body glow as in this definition (click here), but the mycelium (the hair like main mass of the mushroom which is many times as large as the fruiting body that we see) also glows. (Click here) I have some pictures of it but can not find them.
The glow coming from the rotting log was coming from the mycelium. There were no fruiting bodies seen. Maybe they had not formed yet. If you kicked the log, it spread the glowing and since the night was very dark, the glow was easily seen by all. Of course, it isn’t bright enough to be seen in the daytime.
It has always been hard for me to grasp the idea that living things can produce light. The lightning bug for instance, where do they charge their batteries? And glow worms? I guess they are the female lightning bug and can’t fly. The males fly around with the guys and the wives stay home. Now how did they manage that?
When I was a kid, way back about 60 years ago, I sent off for a Captain Video glow in the dark belt. When you turned off the lights, it would shine ever so bright. Never could understand that either. There are glowing toys, paint, plants, fungi, and living creatures. The depths of the oceans have produced creatures that use light to attract their food, a mate, or what-ever. The squid can change colors.
There is just so much in this universe that is hard for me to understand, and bioluminescence is one of them.
How many of you have been fortunate enough to see foxfire? If you did, was it the fruiting bodies or the mycelium?
Sadly never seen the foxfire glow you speak of, but I used to have the first 3 of the Foxfire books!! AND I've seen the Marfa lights! :-)
ReplyDeleteDoes that count?
Guess we are even, Ben. You have never seen foxfire and I have never seen the Marfa lights. That may change in the future.
ReplyDeleteDizz you an me have something in common my wife is (Ruth) allso.I've had one of those for going on 57 years.Good read to day
ReplyDeleteThank you Ted. I have only been married to my Ruth for 46 or so years. To have been for 57 like you, we would have had to be married when I was 10 years old :-) But I have known here for almost that long.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was at Ft. Polk there was an eerie green glow up in the sky one night and it was almost like a cloud. Sure reminded any of us who had seen the 10 commandment where they showed the passover coming down and moving through Egypt. The explanation from the Sargent was that it was swamp gas. Probably caused from what you have explained.
ReplyDeleteWow David, I'll bet that was a scarry sight. I wouldn't think that the fungi spores would form a glowing cloud, but I don't know why swamp gas would glow. Of course I don't know why a lot of things glow. Way beyond me. Some things are best left as mysterios, gives us something to be in awe of.
ReplyDeleteBTW., you got me to wondering,,so I put the Clint Foxfire movie in my movie cue!! "may" watch it tonight
ReplyDeleteI learned some new things tonight , Thanks!
ReplyDeleteNick, glad you learned something. That first time I saw foxfire, I was sure surprised.
ReplyDeleteBen, hope you enjoy it. If you like Eastwood you will probably like it. Watch for the affect the plane made on the water as it flew over it at low altitudes.
ReplyDeleteThe only fox fire I have seen is when a fox got too close to the campfire.
ReplyDeleteHey Barney, thanks for stopping by. You must have been cooking something pretty good on that camp fire to get a fox that close ;-)
ReplyDeleteThe Foxfire books were great..I should buy them again, incase I want to cure a hog or make soap.
ReplyDeleteYes Frann, I read a few of them when they came out. May still have them somewhere?? No you have to admit that those mountain fold were way off the grid.
ReplyDelete