They say you learn something new every day and I recently learned about a real-life blob that travels through our gardens and forests! Being a fan of science fiction movies, I was instantly mesmerized by this mysterious organism that lives right in our backyards.

If you ever happen to see a bright yellow splat that looks like an accidental paint splatter, you might wonder if someone spilled yellow paint or marked the side of the hiking path. It turns out this is actually a living thing known as slime mold. That's right, it is a naturally occurring organism called Physarum polycephalum, and it lives out in the woods and in our yards. 

Its color can be brown, white, blue-gray or even brilliant yellow. These blobs pulse around and move from place to place through changing their shape! Slime mold moves through a kind of shape-shifting of the chemicals inside of its tubes to find food.

These molds benefit our ecosystem as a sort of scavenger in the woods that consumes dead and decomposing matter. Slime molds tend to appear as we enter fall because the temperature is just right and they prefer damp environments. You are more likely to find this organism after a good rainfall.

Here is a recent sighting of slime mold right here in New York State! 

Watch this time lapse video of slime mold so you can see how it moves:

Can't get enough of this traveling goo? Here's another time lapse.

So if you have never encountered such an interesting sight, maybe someday you will. I will certainly be on the lookout for this fascinating part of nature's living things!

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