# What is this slime in the yard? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 22, 2007, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-slime-in-the-yard/393264 "2007-02-22T19:31:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Kairos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecc23a/32.png) [@Kairos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kairos)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2007, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-slime-in-the-yard/393264/1 "2007-02-22T19:31:39Z")
A friend of mine found this…this…\*[thing](http://redshirtknitting.com/?p=868) \* in her yard. She, being braver than I, actually [poked it](http://redshirtknitting.com/?p=868). Yuck. Any idea what it is? Her guess is some sort of slime mold, but all the slime mold descriptions we can find talk about it being more…frothy. Me? I’m voting for [star jelly](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_jelly). 😛 (By the way, I do have her permission to post this here.) ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2007, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-slime-in-the-yard/393264/2 "2007-02-22T19:56:38Z")
Actually, it a starslug leaving starmucilage. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2007, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-slime-in-the-yard/393264/3 "2007-02-22T19:58:48Z")
FWIW, the [straightdope on star jelly](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_285.html) ---
**Author:** ![Oregon\_sunshine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/50afbb/32.png) [@Oregon\_sunshine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oregon_sunshine)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2007, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-slime-in-the-yard/393264/4 "2007-02-22T20:14:11Z")
Looks like a slime mold to me. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2007, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-slime-in-the-yard/393264/5 "2007-02-22T21:10:17Z")
Elephants were screwing in the yard by starlight. ---
**Author:** ![Kairos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecc23a/32.png) [@Kairos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kairos)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2007, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-slime-in-the-yard/393264/6 "2007-02-23T16:24:08Z")
As much as I appreciate the more…uh…outlandish suggestions (and I do)…does anyone have any serious idea of what this stuff is? **Oregon sunshine** , I see that you suggest slime mold, but in all the pictures of slime mold I’ve seen it looks [foamy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slime_mould) and [opaque](http://www.herbarium.usu.edu/fungi/FunFacts/SlimeMold.htm) rather than slimy and translucent like this stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2007, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-slime-in-the-yard/393264/7 "2007-02-23T16:50:43Z")
[QUOTE=Kairos] in all the pictures of slime mold I’ve seen it looks [foamy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slime_mould) and [opaque](http://www.herbarium.usu.edu/fungi/FunFacts/SlimeMold.htm) rather than slimy and translucent like this stuff. [/QUOTE] Right. I noticed that this goo is near a Juniper, or similar piney type plant. It could be diseased gymnosperm sap. Sometimes sick or injured gymnos get _awfully_ gooey. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2007, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-slime-in-the-yard/393264/8 "2007-02-23T17:15:02Z")
No clue, but my fave comment from the photos was the person who suggested it mught be an edible jelly fungus or somesuch. Yum! Can’t wait to dig right in! :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2007, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-slime-in-the-yard/393264/9 "2007-02-23T18:10:18Z")
[QUOTE=Oregon sunshine] Looks like a slime mold to me. [/QUOTE] Seconded. Nothing but a gigantic amoeba with millions of nuclei. Walk for your life! I for one welcome our new amoeba overlords. ---
**Author:** ![scotandrsn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a4c791/32.png) [@scotandrsn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scotandrsn)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2007, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-slime-in-the-yard/393264/10 "2007-02-23T18:15:00Z")
The slime in our yard is usually a real estate agent trying to tell us “We Have Buyers For Your House!” ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2007, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-slime-in-the-yard/393264/11 "2007-02-23T18:28:36Z")
Could be an absolutely ginormous snail ---
**Author:** ![cwthree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de0a6/32.png) [@cwthree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cwthree)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2007, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-slime-in-the-yard/393264/12 "2007-02-23T19:03:26Z")
Looks like a slime mold in is [plasmodium](http://waynesword.palomar.edu/images/fuligo3b.jpg) phase. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2007, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-slime-in-the-yard/393264/13 "2007-02-23T19:54:49Z")
_Beware of The Blob, it creeps And leaps and glides and slides Across the floor Right through the door And all around the wall A splotch, a blotch Be careful of The Blob_ -Burt Bacharach ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2007, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-slime-in-the-yard/393264/14 "2007-02-24T05:24:09Z")
Is it more of that funny-colored Siberian snow? (What was that, anyway?) ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2007, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-slime-in-the-yard/393264/15 "2007-02-24T07:15:23Z")
It comes from commercial top soil. It’s a moisture enhancer. It stores water, then releases it slowly. The problem comes when it’s exposed to too much water. The soil is washed away, and you’re left with gellatinous blobs. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2007, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-slime-in-the-yard/393264/16 "2007-02-24T09:06:16Z")
You have no idea how exciting this thread is for me. ---
**Author:** ![Tiamatpuppy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Tiamatpuppy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tiamatpuppy)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2007, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-slime-in-the-yard/393264/17 "2007-02-24T10:27:58Z")
A dead Gelatinous Cube? Does it have gold pieces in it? ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2007, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-slime-in-the-yard/393264/18 "2007-02-24T14:20:59Z")
Odo? Dude? You OK? ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2007, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-slime-in-the-yard/393264/19 "2007-02-24T18:41:29Z")
Eat it! Eat it! You could sooo get a pool going on in here to see if you survive. As for a serious guess, perhaps it’s the remnants of one of those “slime toys” that a child disposed of in your yard. I forget their name, but they looked very similar. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2007, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-slime-in-the-yard/393264/20 "2007-02-24T19:38:11Z")
A number of cheesy horror films started exactly like this. “Wow, that looks strange, I wonder what it tastes like.” :eek: [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-slime-in-the-yard/393264.md?page=2)