We went to the small playground in my grandma’s neighborhood the other day to play. While we were there, I discovered three strange looking things on the ground. I unfortunately didn’t have a stick handy to poke at it with, but I looked as closely as I could. Of course, I had to take some pictures too. I couldn’t figure out what it could be.

I sent the pictures to my mom and dad to see if they could identify The Thing, and they had no idea.

I tried googling and that didn’t help any either.

Though I didn’t touch it, just by looking it seemed to be dry except for the sap like looking spots and the sticky looking junk underneath. The largest one was about six inches, and each one was several feet away from each other. There was no odor from a standing position (I didn’t lean down far enough to get close to smell it).

My thought was some kind of insect nest? There were a lot of damselflies flying around there, but googling didn’t help shed any light on whether that could be true or not.

Anybody know what it could be?

UPDATE:

Guess what! I know what it is now. Thanks, Kasey for finding the answer. Science lesson coming your way. . .

It’s Dog Vomit Slime Mold, otherwise known as Fuligo Septica. It’s actually a fungus and is completely harmless. It’s often found in mulch playgrounds and gardens. Read more about it! Instead of being grossed out now I am fascinated.