Possum and Slime Mold

At the base of an Ampelopsis fox grape there was an odd patch of red that caught my eye. From a distance, I could not make out what I was seeing. A burnt reddish orange, it looked like it could be a piece of flotsam litter washed into the Woods along the Wash. I was curious and walked over to see what it was. Up close, I saw a large 30 cm long section of the old vine covered in a thick slime mold, the color of milky tomato soup. I could not remember seeing anything quite like that. It fully enclosed the vine. It looked like it had crawled up there overnight.

It was a beautiful spring afternoon Easter Sunday. I went to the Woods via the NW Pond entrance.
The pond and surrounding area were full.. the NW Pond was 2.48 ' in depth. The East Pond was 2.06'.

In the eastern portion of the central Woods I caught sight of a slow-moving possum. It kept a suspicious watch on me and made its way to a box elder tree (#448). I watched it climb 30 feet up to a large cavity - perhaps a broken trunk or branch. The possum eyed me for another minute or two and then slowly disappeared into the cavity.

 In bloom were:
Viola, Cardamine, Galium aparine, Lamium purpureum & amplexicaule and a small white flower superficially like a small Apiaceae.

There were Morels (2) by the E Pond south shore and by the Wash. There are Ailanthus? and Lonicera maackii on the south shore of the East Pond.