“Something hatched!" Mum’s disturbing backyard discovery
A woman’s terrifying discovery in her yard has left a number of social media users baffled.
The woman, believed to be from Australia, posted a video of a small black mound sitting on top of dirt to a Facebook group last week, as she asked members to help her figure out what it is.
“Has anyone seen these before? Just appeared today in a few spots around the yard. It has been raining here overnight,” she said.
In the footage, the woman touched the mound, causing what appears to be thousands of tiny alive bugs to move.
They seem to go right back to where they were as she pulls her fingers back.
Horrified users on Facebook jokingly told the mum to burn her house down or move away from the “alien eggs”.
“I have never seen anything like that before!” one woman said.
“It looks like kinetic sand,” another wrote.
“Something hatched!” a third chimed in.
But one person revealed that the bugs appear to be springtails, otherwise known as Anurida Maritima.
“Springtails for sure! We have the same thing happen to us and know they come every year. Hate it lol,” someone responded to her.
Springtails are a common occurrence in gardens, but they’re still relatively unknown due to their small size, according to the agricultural school of Texas A&M University.
“Springtails are common insects that live in leaf litter, compost piles and lawn soils, recycling dead plant material into nutrients to fertilise your lawn,” according to the school.
“Only about a millimetre long, springtails are rarely seen, but given the right environmental conditions, they can multiply to become a nuisance.”
They are not harmful and do not bite people, pets, spread disease or damage homes.