Mushroom hunting or mushrooming is the activity of searching for mushrooms in the wild, typically for eating. It is popular in most of Europe, from the Nordic, Baltic and Slavic countries (see mushroom picking in Slavic culture) to western North America (particularly from the San Francisco Bay area northward along the Pacific Coast) and the Mediterranean Basin. Due to global warming, British enthusiasts today enjoy an extended average picking season of 75 days compared to just 33 in the 1950s.There is a large number of mushrooms species that are favored for eating by mushroom hunters. The king bolete is a popular delicacy. Sulphur shelf (also known as Chicken Mushroom or Chicken of the Woods) is often gathered because it occurs in bulk, recurs year after year, is easily identified, and has a wide variety of culinary uses. Chanterelles, morels, Shaggy Manes (in genus Coprinus), and Puffballs are among the most popular types of mushrooms to gather, most of these being relatively hard to misidentify by anyone with practice. Only experts, however, collect from dangerous groups, such as Amanita, which include some of the most toxic mushrooms in existence.Identification is not the only element of mushroom hunting that takes practice — knowing where to search does as well. Most mushroom species require very specific conditions -- some will only grow at the base of a certain type of tree, for example. Finding a desired species that is known to grow in a certain region can be a challenge.