Its definitely fungus, Kal. Its brown and when it passes it gets slimy. The ground covering there is woodchips and there were a lot of saplings and scrub there too.
Although can be a pest some fungus is just amazing in the way it grows. Not sure if you've ever seen it before but google Cordyceps if you get a chance.. That is really crazy shit when it takes on a host and roots through the brain of its host...
Yup, what's more crazy is the fact that in China and the Tibetan Plateau they dig up caterpillars from under the ground that have died from Cordycep infection, dry them and eat them.. Legend tells of how goat herders saw there goats eating a strange blue grass and wondered why even the old goats became full of energy. Supposedly an emperor from the Tang dynasty attributed it to his good health and old age.. crazy stuff..
Ya, I saw some pics of it being weighed out in Asian markets. They can keep it. I don't need strangely colored Bart Simpson hair growing out of me while Im inexplicably perched high in a tree.