Slime Molds On My Mind

I like slime molds - the strange, plasmodium fungi/multi-celled species that exist in the dank and dark forests all over the globe. Some people think that I'm lying when I tell them about slime molds. Some people don't care at all. And some people are like "what the fuck is a slime mold??" Slime molds are quite possibly one of the first inhabitants of this earth, we may have even come from this oozing creatures that trawl for food along the forest floor. I don't really care if we did come from these things, I'm not one for pontificating on the many theories of our evolution - I've heard just about everything in regards to why we are here now - and frankly, it is a boring subject after a while. But slime molds, they are not boring! They have a fascinating cycle in which they follow to a "T", regardless of any outside forces or foreign influence. A truly amazing creature; slime molds start out as tiny little amoeba. They forage around in the forest feeding on bacteria and other detriment along the way. You can barely see them when they are this small and individual, but not for too long.

At some point, the individual amoeba excrete this "attracting hormone" called acrasin. Acrasin is basically a call to all of the individual slime molds to come together. Thousands of tiny slime molds (within a logical distance, I would assume) slowly start making their way to a central area. Once gathered together in this preferably moist and dark area, the individual amoebas assimilate into each other and become a huge mass of slime molds, which essentially form one giant amoeba, that is easily seen by the naked eye (some of these things get to be as big as 2 feet in diameter). The big amoeba, at this point, is usually a very bright color; sometimes radiant orange, yellow, or red. Sometimes they are clear too. If you can believe it, this giant thing moves around and forages on decaying logs, picking up pieces of crap here and there. They move very slowly, but still move! I mean, this is crazy, straight out of science fiction or something. I can't believe that more people aren't fascinated by them. Anyway, after a few days of feeding as a giant amoeba, the slime mold kind of forms into this big slug like mass and begins to move to a dry spot in the forest. Here, the slime mold begins its final phase.

The creature stops moving when its found an ideal place to rest. It sort of "dries" up and begins sprouting these fruiting bodies (spores and the end of tiny little stalks). I've read that these things can be very colorful, and resemble tiny little blue soccer balls attached to the end of toothpicks. When the wind comes, these little balls break open and spores are released and thrown into the air. The spores fall and scatter around an area not too far from each other. After a while, the spores then become tiny little amoebas, and the whole cycle is started over again. Fascinating, yes?

So, this is all well and good, but one thing is desperately not right - I have never seen an actual slime mold in the wild. I know much about these mystifying creatures, but still have never actually seen one, maybe I have, but it is unlikely as I would have recognized it right away.
Alas, I have never seen one, and I still want to. So, if anybody out there can tell me where to hunt for slime molds in Northern California, please let me know! Post a comment and give me info., for I have slime molds on my mind. Thanks.