How do animals know it's safe to eat mushrooms in Sunnyvale yard?

"While it is never a good idea to eat one without knowing exactly what type it is, animals don't have the benefit of being able to call on a mycologist to determine the identity. Instead, they rely on taste, outcome and experience. If a wild animal eats a mushroom that later makes it ill, it will avoid those mushrooms in the future, provided they survive."

"As for what animal would eat the golden hued mushrooms you observed, the list is long. Mushrooms are a treat for wildlife as they have a high water content, are a good source of protein, and a good source of vitamins and phosphorus. Rats, squirrels, deer, box turtles, wild turkeys, and wild boars, just to name a few that might be visiting your yard, all love mushrooms. The scratches you observed lead me to think of turkeys, but there's no way to know for certain."

Mushrooms often appear in yards after winter rains. Animals cannot identify mushroom species and instead rely on taste, outcome, and learned experience. Animals that fall ill after eating a mushroom generally avoid that species in the future. The death cap (Amanita phalloides) and western destroying angel (Amanita ocreata) are unsafe for any creature and commonly grow near oak trees. Mushrooms provide high water content, protein, vitamins, and phosphorus, so many species consume them. Possible consumers include rats, squirrels, deer, box turtles, wild turkeys, wild boars, raccoons, possums, and birds. Scratch marks at the base suggest wild turkeys but identification cannot be certain.

Read at The Mercury News