YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) – Have you heard of “dog vomit mold?” Yes, this is a thing.

“It’s one of 800 different slime molds,” said Jeff Fowler, senior extension educator-horticulture at Penn State Extension.

It has another name, too: scrambled eggs.

Slime molds are some of the most unattractive funguses and molds. The clever nicknames are just accurate descriptions of what these look like. They’re funguses that start below the ground. They work their way to the top, and then in cool, wet conditions, they spring out above the Earth.

The slime molds come in different shapes and sizes. They feed on old organic matter.

Fowler said it’s not just a spring phenomenon.

“We’ll see them throughout the year different, you know, different shapes, different sizes, different colors, different slime molds,” he said.

Fowler is interested to see them this spring and summer because we didn’t have a harsh winter, which would normally kill some fungus spores.

The slime molds are safe. Fowler said to just let them run their natural course.

“Some of the slime molds actually only show their faces for about an hour and then they just go away. So they’re interesting, interesting slime molds for sure,” Fowler said.

Chemicals don’t work on them. You can take a rake and break them apart.

In some countries, people eat these slime molds.