DENVER— With all the rain in Colorado recently, you may be noticing something unusual growing on your grass or in your garden. Associate Curator of Mycology at Denver Botanic Gardens Andrew Wilson believes it’s slime mold.
A viewer sent Denver7 pictures of the substance found in their Castle Pines yard on Sunday.
“They are kind of the alpha predators of the microbial world and essentially what they're doing is they're crawling along the ground and looking for bacteria and other fungi to eat and consume,” said Wilson.
Wilson says slime mold, which we don't typically see a lot of in Colorado due to the drier climate, is likely a result of all the rain we had. The slime mold will go after its prey like mushrooms and other bacteria in our yard.
What will it do to your grass?
“I don't think the slime mold will do anything to your grass specifically,” said Wilson. “They don't harm people or animals. They’re just out doing their business and cleaning up the environment.”
Wilson says there's not much you can do about slime mold, other than wait, saying it should be gone in about a week.
"They'll be tiny almost like gray balls a millimeter across and those will tend to break down,” said Wilson.
Cutting the grass could make them go away quicker, but Wilson says they could come up again during the next rainstorm.
Experts also recommend watering your yard less. They say that could help prevent slime mold from growing.
