# Herd of Fuzzy Green "Glacier Mice" Baffles Scientists



## SeaBreeze (May 24, 2020)

Thought this was interesting.

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			Herd Of Fuzzy Green 'Glacier Mice' Baffles Scientists






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> "They really do look like little mammals, little mice or chipmunks or rats or something running around on the glacier, although they run in obviously very slow motion," says wildlife biologist Sophie Gilbert, also at the University of Idaho.
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> Each ball is like a soft, wet, squishy pillow of moss. The balls can be composed of different moss species and are thought to form around some kind of impurity, like a bit of dust. They've been seen in Alaska, Iceland, Svalbard and South America, although they won't grow on just any glacier — it seems that conditions have to be just right.
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https://www.npr.org/2020/05/22/8588...f-fuzzy-green-glacier-mice-baffles-scientists


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## Aunt Marg (May 24, 2020)

Love stories such as this!

Thanks greatly for posting, SeaBreeze!


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## MarciKS (May 24, 2020)




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## Em in Ohio (May 30, 2020)

SeaBreeze said:


> Thought this was interesting.
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Fascinating!  I didn't know that moss grew on glaciers, let alone that it is mobile!  I know that moss in my yard survives the Ohio winters, but it hasn't shown any tendency towards independent motion!  In fact, my mosses don't respond well to being moved by _me_ - I have tried repeatedly to get it to grow in terrariums and failed.  This makes me wish that someone was marketing these 'glacier mice!'


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