Mum's video of 'creepy' discovery baffles internet
A mum has sent shivers up and down the various spines of the internet today, after sharing a video of a horrifying discovery in her backyard.
The short clip shows a mass of what looks like black dots in a suburban backyard.
When touched by a finger, the mass shifts and moves, revealing itself to be thousands of tiny living organisms.
The creepy clip has seriously freaked out online users who are at once revolted and determined to figure out what creatures make up the heaving mass.
Sadly, the woman who captured the video was as confused as the rest of us, asking for help identifying the otherworldly thing.
“Has anyone seen these before?” she wondered. “Just appeared today in a few spots around the yard. It has been raining here overnight.”
“What the devil,” one person wrote. “Like, I’m so confused right now is it bugs??”
“l’m 59 and never in my life seen anything so creepy,” another confessed.
Many had a perfectly reasonable theory.
“Aliens,” several guessed.
Others had no answers but did off some rough solutions.
“Petrol and a lighter,” one wrote.
“Move house,” another advised.
“Burn it down,” was someone else’s words of wisdom.
Finally, after wild speculating and much shuddering, some came forward with a scientific, but horrifying explanations.
Black mass identified as Collembola
The heaving black thing is actually a swarm of tiny creatures known as Collembola, or springtails.
The creatures are just as strange as they seem. they are one of just three species of hexapods (six-legged creatures) not to be considered insects because they have an internal chewing mechanism.
They are also omnivores meaning they feed on anything and like damp areas where they will often congregate in the horrifying swarms seen in the video.
Though they make us uncomfortable to look at, they are completely harmless to humans and considered good for enriching soil.
They also have been known to eat anything, from animal remains to vegetable compost, just in case you needed some extra fodder for the alien/ zombie theories still going around.
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