Posted by emelia sherman on August 15, 2008

Q: I'm 7 years old. I found this in my Grandma's backyard. It's about the size of a paint ball, it has gooey pink stuff on the bottom, seems to be leaking some, it is soft, pinkish gray with blackish, bluish dark spots on it. Could it be an egg sack of some sort? We'd running the sprinkler and it was wet and quite soft when we found it. As it dries out it seems to be puffing up and is nice and round. It was in the grass, near the garden and not too far from some small mushrooms that are coming up in the lawn. What could it be? We took a picture of it.

State: Oregon

Habitat: suburban/yard

A: You did a great job describing this mystery object Emelia - thanks so much!

Boy, I haven't seen anything quite like this before but I do have an immediate thought. It looks very much to me like an emerging mushroom (not mature yet). The evenly-spaced dark dots have me puzzled though.

So, at this point, I'm guessing it's some kind of fungus but am definitely not sure. Keep an eye on it and see what happens. Of course, since it is no longer in the lawn, it will probably begin to decay and not mature. I'll post this question and we'll see whether anyone else can help us out. I'll do some research on this too and see what I can find.

Thanks so much for sharing this Emelia and we'll see if we can get to the bottom of your mystery.

John Wiessinger ( August 16, 2008)

A: I shared your question with the Director at the Institute and the Education Director too and they both feel it isn't organic (alive) at all. They think it is just what you described in your question - a paintball.

Now the question is, how did it get in your Grandma's yard. Maybe your grandma has a new activity! Only kidding. Anyway, if you puncture your object, I'll bet lots of colored dye runs out. Try it and see.

Again, thanks for asking.

John Wiessinger ( August 18, 2008)