Don’t throw up—this mold is perfectly safe and easy to remove
Dog vomit slime mold might look gross, but it isn’t toxic.
Removal is easy and involves throwing it away or breaking it up.
The mold has some use cases, such as in compost piles or garden beds.
Dog vomit slime mold, sometimes called scrambled egg mold, doesn’t look unlike it sounds. This wet, often yellowish blob spreads on moist surfaces as it feeds on decaying organic matter.
Dog vomit slime mold, despite actually being a mold, more closely resembles a fungus than say the mold you might see under your kitchen sink. The good news? It grows very slowly, is harmless to humans, and there may just be benefits to having it in your garden.
This slime mold is almost always found outside, especially on the forest floor. You’ve probably seen it yourself if you’ve ever been out hiking in a wet forest. The mold starts off as a bright yellow which fades to a butter color as it matures.
Dog vomit slime mold feeds on decaying organic matter. A forest floor with dead leaves, bugs, soil, and especially wood make for an excellent breeding ground for slime mold. Like many molds, dog vomit slime needs three things working together to grow:
Moisture
Warm temperatures
Nutrients
Other than the forest floor, there is another place where this mold is seen often, and that’s in the mulch beds of gardens. Mulch is very close to a forest floor in its composition, and dog vomit slime mold has the three necessary factors it needs to grow. In fact, gardens are often more optimal for slime mold than even the forest, as they are frequently watered.
Many molds can cause serious health risks to humans. Black mold, certain types of penicillium, and Aspergillus can all cause significant issues like respiratory distress and nervous system shutdown. Dog vomit slime mold, however, is perfectly safe to be around.
This is because the mold doesn’t carry mycotoxins. Mycotoxins are the particles present in the molds mentioned above that make you sick. Dog vomit slime mold, on the other hand, produces none of these. That being said, those with respiratory illnesses can still be affected by it, so don’t go around playing with the slime mold you see!
Getting rid of dog vomit slime mold is easy. Since it isn’t toxic or harmful to humans, you don’t need to take any special care when removing it like you do for black mold. If the slime mold is growing on the mulch in your garden, take a shovel and scoop that section of the mulch out. Try to work cleanly, so you don’t spread the mold accidentally.
Once you’ve removed it, you can throw it in your compost pile–or a forest. There are other methods for removing slime molds, some of which can be quite enjoyable:
Break up the mold with high-pressure water.
Starve the mold by reducing or shutting off irrigation systems.
Break up the mold and spread it with a rake or shovel.
Remove the mold and break it into pieces on a driveway or sidewalk.
Any method to aerate it, so it dries out, will work.
Slime molds grow slowly and die fast. They need moisture to grow so if you can break them up and expose a great amount of surface area to air, they will die quickly. Just remember that as you’re breaking it up, you could be spreading spores, so the slime may come back. You might want to talk with a local lawn care pro if you see it coming back often.
Dog vomit slime mold doesn’t live very long, and may disappear within a week. It takes weeks to grow but once it reaches maturity, unless the perfect conditions to thrive are present, it can quickly die. This is mostly due to mold growing in periods of high humidity, such as after rain. Once the sun comes back out, the moisture levels drop, and the slime mold dies. It might take weeks to take hold, but people tend to notice it seemingly overnight.
Slime mold isn’t toxic to your dog, even if they eat it. Toxicity and comfort are two different things, and if you notice your dog eating slime mold, you should stop them, but not worry too much. Expect a period of gastrointestinal distress, and possibly some other complications, but your dog should be ok within a few days.
Slime mold can thrive for weeks or months in the perfect environment, but that rarely occurs. The mold will typically die within a week of you noticing it. However, it could be dead long before it disappears, and since it’s safe to handle, it’s easier to get rid of it all at once. This eliminates its chance to spread, and also won’t leave you looking at decaying slime mold.
Slime molds don’t just look interesting, they are an important part of the forest’s food chain. These molds decompose and recycle nutrients in decaying matter, such as dead trees, leaves, or even animals. The molds, which are nutrient-rich themselves, act as a food source for certain bugs and small animals.
