What can a single raindrop do?

Send these mysterious eggs on a journey, for one thing, but these eggs have no yolk inside.

Instead, they hold millions of spores that will spread this curious little mushroom called a bird’s nest fungus.

Two of them would barely cover your thumbnail.

They grow up on logs or Twigs on the forest floor or mulch in your backyard.

The Spore sacks known as peridials sit patiently in their Splash cup, abiding their time.

When a raindrop hits the cup, the peridial hurdles off in milliseconds and lands on the ground or a leaf bam

Pow Zap.

As it flies, this perennial unfurls a cord and, with some luck, gloms onto a blade of grass.

From the back you can see how the cord, wrapped around a sticky bit at the end called the haftaron, anchors it.

The peridial doesn’t end up that far from home.

It waits, dangling from this thin but surprisingly strong cord.

It’s made of thousands of entwined threads, called hyphy, that same Webby material.

A fungus grows Underground over here.

A hungry deer nibbles the grass and takes the perydial with it as it wanders.

It scatters the spores in its droppings and spreads the fungus to New Frontiers, slightly undignified Journey propelled by a plop and a drop.

Hey D peeps, we’ve got another fun guy story for you get it.

Giant water bugs can give your toe a painful bite if you wade into their stream, but they may be the best insect dads ever hauling eggs around until they hatch right off their backs.

Thanks, pops, thank you.