Darrin Lee Powll, age 8, of Mopcanton, N.C., for his question:

WHAT IS FOX FIRE?

Many of us have never seen fox fire. Those who have seen it are not likely to forget. It can appear on some dark night, when a person happens to be in the gloomy woods. There it is among the shadowy tree trunks, glowing softly with a pale ghostly light. The spooky sight may scare you unless you know what it really is.

No, it is not a cozy campfire that the bushy tailed foxes light to keep themselves warm in the woods. The ghostly glow is created by certain fungus plants, which are relatives of the mushrooms and toadstools. These plants have no green leaves, but some of them create pale glowing colors.

They live on old tree trunks and rotting stumps, which is why we see them in the spooky woods. They appear only at night because their colors are too pale to show up during the bright light of day.