# @nationalparkservice on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/Db_hER9nWRV
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/68987408-nationalparkservice-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/e310fc2fcb.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-08-13T19:43:26.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** National Park Service (@nationalparkservice) — https://gondola.cc/nationalparkservice

## Caption

Is that Grandma’s jello salad?

Nope. Meet the bleeding tooth fungus.

Oh, hello…and goodbye.

Wait. Wait. Wait! Come back! It’s really a fungi. 

Despite looking like a woodland horror prop, the bleeding tooth fungus (Hydnellum peckii) is just a fungus doing fungus things. That doesn’t sound weird. It produces spores on tiny tooth-like structures underneath its fruiting body. Well, that got a bit weird. 

The creepy red liquid? It’s actually a sap-like substance produced through a process called guttation, which is a fancy scientific word for “the mushroom is sweating.” 

On Michigan’s Isle Royale National Park, this unsettling little forest resident can be spotted under conifers like it’s waiting for someone to discover its tiny mushroom crime scene. (CSI: Smurf Village has entered the chat.) Seeing one is rare, but if you do, take a closer look. Beneath the spooky exterior is a softer side. Its cap is surprisingly velvety. That’s right. The bleeding tooth fungus gives off “cursed woodland object” energy but has the texture of a nice sweater.

And before you ask: no, you shouldn’t eat it. 

It’s not toxic, but it’s so bitter that you have to wonder why anyone got far enough to find out. In conclusion, admire it, photograph it, and leave the creepy strawberry-looking oozing mushroom where it belongs…in your nightmares. 

Images: Close up of Bleeding Tooth Fungus found in parks. NPS

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## Credits

| Name | Username | Profile | Role |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| National Park Service | @nationalparkservice | https://gondola.cc/nationalparkservice | Government Organization |

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