This morning started like any other — watering flowers, checking on the cats — until an awful rotting smell

hit me the moment I opened the gate. The air felt heavy, metallic, and sharp. Then I saw it: something red,

slimy, and moving near the flowerbed. My heart pounded as I stared, unsure if it was an animal, an insect… or something far stranger.

When I searched online for “red slimy, rotten-smelling mushroom,” I froze at the answer — Anthurus archeri,

also called the Devil’s Fingers fungus. Native to Australia and Tasmania, this bizarre species has now spread across the world.

It begins as a white “egg,” then bursts open into bright red tentacles, dripping with a foul slime that

smells like rotting flesh. The stench attracts flies, which spread its spores — nature’s gruesome but effective design.

People often mistake it for a dead creature or even an alien life form, and some have called authorities

thinking they’d found remains. But it’s just one of nature’s strangest creations — unsettling yet fascinating.

Now, I steer clear of that corner of the yard. The “Devil’s Fingers” can stay untouched — a chilling reminder

that nature’s beauty and horror often grow side by side.