The Fascinating World of Moss Under a Microscope
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- Опубликовано: 6 сен 2024
- If there's one creature I've wanted to track down for the longest time, it's the tardigrade. A nearly invincible, alien little microscopic life form that is one of the most unique organisms on the planet. Join me on a journey into the microscopic world as we search for the water bear!
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Here at MyWildBackyard we investigate the secrets of the natural world- secrets that can be hidden in our very own backyards! I want to share the incredible world of insects, spiders and other wildlife with you and inspire you to explore your curiosity. Get out there, and find your adventure!
For those who read the description- we've updated the channel! I'm working on adding more features to videos to better expand our conversations about the secrets we find in the natural world! Introducing the Creature Tier System! There are four rankings:
1. Staple - These are the lowest tier creatures. They are the most common species in a given habitat, and while they're not boring, they're really only exciting when you're exploring a new habitat and you haven't seen them before. Not something to write home about.
2. Neat - These are a step up from Staple. They don't make your entire day, but they are worth taking a closer look at when found. Definitely can be exciting to have a productive day finding many Neat species.
3. Wild - These are exciting to find. Whether they have interesting defensive features that offer a nice challenge in the field, are particularly cool looking, or maybe a little bit rare, Wild species aren't necessarily the MOST memorable of encounters, but they definitely make your day when you see them. An adventure featuring many Wild species will truly be memorable.
4. Gem - These are special. Usually involving extremely interesting biology and significant rarity, Gem species are animals that you really do not see every day. These species can make your whole adventure, and will be very memorable.
Music in this video - Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
creativecommons...
#tardigrade
Water bears are awesome!! I was a level II wastewater operator, and we used to find these in some of the water samples. They were almost "cute" if you will. I think I reacted the same way when I finally found one. Thanks for doing a video on them!
Oh interesting! Did you guys examine samples to see what was living in the water? Assuming to check how well filtration was working or something. You know I love breaking out the microscope, and tardigrades are something I've wanted to FIND for forever, figured why not try and film one too?
@@MyWildBackyard We used to check the samples under a microscope to get an idea of the overall health of the water. Basically checking for nematodes, which were unwanted. I kept hearing about the tardigrades, and one day I saw one. It was definitely an unforgettable moment!
Tardigrades truly are fascinating, especially considering how ubiquitous they really are. It's easy to think of microscopic organisms as existing in a world entirely separate from our own, but knowing that they exist right in our own backyards makes them all the more interesting to me. You got a great variety of b-roll (which is especially impressive considering the size of your subjects), the ingenuity of your filmmaking never fails to impress me! Great work as always, Spencer!
-Evan and Harrison
🫡 thanks so much guys! We’re goin HARD this year, even the microbes gotta get their glamour shots!
Tardigrades are a pretty big plot point in Star Trek: Discovery!
Thanks to your channel we, instead of throwing it outside to freezing cold, took a moment to inspect and admire a small spider and then free it to our cellar (instead of my daughters room). And now we talked about getting a microscope for Christmas.
Yeahhh! That's precisely why this video rang a bell and drew my attention!!!
So glad to hear it! Means a lot to hear these stories! (Late replies cause I’m out in the field filming this month, been grinding on new videos since Wednesday out in southern florida)
I’m always so fascinated when I think about the fact that there’s an entire other world going on in places most would overlook.
Well now I want to get a microscope even more lol.
It's so easy to lose HOURS at the microscope, looking at all these weird little things is so fascinating.
What amazes me the most is the wealth of knowledge you have and how you can clearly share that knowledge with us. You never hesitate and are quite amazing to listen to. After seeing that video I actually want to get out and buy a microscope to scope what microscopically lurks in my backyard!
So awesome! Thanks for sharing!
Yes, Water bears! So amazing, so adorable
I’m so jealous! I’ve always wanted a microscope! Especially having saltwater aquariums with all the tiny things in them
Also your reaction at finding one 😂
😂 I was filming for HOURS! So many rotifers that looked kinda like them, seeing that leg was such a crazy feeling
I once looked at gunk from the edge of a pond under a cheap microscope and saw something I couldn't figure out because it had eight stubby legs. I know now it was some kind of tardigrade. 😊
Spencer, you really do give me some strong Steve Irwin vibes. That excitability when you come across something, the willingness to directly handle even incredibly dangerous insects so long as they aren't inherently aggressive, and your endless drive for knowledge and understanding for these strange little creatures all around us. It's almost exactly the same kind of spark that Steve had.
Steve is a huge inspiration to pretty much everything I do on here. I was always out looking for bugs as a kid, but watching The Crocodile Hunter really fanned that flame. Even though I was the weird bug kid, there was Steve, the guy who made wildlife biology cool. As I grew up and the fascination with the creatures around me stayed with me, I developed kind of a personal vendetta to make sure I can continue to see awesome wildlife for years to come, and wanted to find a way to share the stories about the little creatures we normally pass by. You don’t need a RUclips video to tell you that the charismatic megafauna of the African savanna are cool- I mean look at them! But the weird little life forms in our backyards? I think a lot of people need to see how the world around us is much more full of secrets than they realize, and that everything is interconnected. Showing them this “secret world” and the life that fills it is my way of spreading the word about that interconnectivity to the public. Really means a lot to be compared to Steve, and it’s an honor to be a part of the fight for wildlife that he really started.
Really makes you think about the way you handle every day items, when you know there are living things on it. Even casually tossing something in the garbage…am I sealing living things up in a plastic bag?
Thanks for the video, sir.
I’m so glad you enjoyed! Getting to replies a little late this week because I’m in Florida filming all new stuff for this spring. Let’s just say some of these new ones are gonna be suuuuper nuts
I love Spencer! ❤you have totally got me hooked in all you do!
Tardigrades are definitely the most resilient creatures on earth since they can survive temperatures that nothing else can.
Good video spencer.
Thank you! Also you changed your profile pic!
Awesome video! It was fun to see you get so excited about something that's that tiny, I'd love to see one of those one day, but I've only managed to find rotifers and mosquito larvae with my professor's microscope.
Dunno if we'll have time to get one while I'm here in FL, but we can give it a shot! Trick is to soak moss and lichen overnight in water, then squeeze it out. Got mine in lichen!
Thank you for all of the content!!
I'm so glad you're enjoying!
I wish I had as many adventures as you. You have all the fun. 😁👍
It really has been a dream to be able to do. Thank you so much for making it possible!
This was a great video Spencer,and I never thought about you looking in the microscopic world for creatures, and I was just going to suggest if your microscope is powerful enough you might study the creatures living on our skin,and one other thing that came to mind I don't think you mentioned in your video,do they have brains?
They do have brains! Very simple ones, but they have a nervous system and it is centralized in their head! I actually do have one powerful enough to see the creatures in our skin now, I might do just that very soon! So glad you enjoyed this one, I'm a TOTAL nerd, but absolutely love all these little microscopic things just as much as the invertebrates that are visible to the human eye!
Just found you and instantly subscribed! Your excitement is contagious 🙃 Longer episodes? xxx
Working on some longer projects! Takes a bit to do this all by myself but I have a couple plans in place!
Lol, that thumb nail! So serious! =D Great presentation, as always! Thank you!
😂 glad you enjoyed!
That's yer back garden?!?! Damn Spencer, some of us over here would kill ( not literally lol) for that much space!!!
Yeah I have four acres of woods! Lots of cool creatures too!
@@MyWildBackyard I mean, especially down in Devon and Cornwall, yer never too far from the countryside and forests; but 4 acres of back garden?!?! To paraphrase Ron Weasley; Bloody Hell!!!
These little guys are amazing!
I love them! I should try and do more cool microscope stuff
Interesting stuff Spencer, copepods are extremely interesting as well. I did have an ecosphere last year and watching all these under a macro lens was fascinating.
I want to try and make one of those! Did it back in high school, it was so cool
@@MyWildBackyard I had it for several months and so many things appeared out of the plants I had collected. My wife eventually poured it down the toilet thinking she had done me a favour by getting rid of that jar of dirty water lol
Love this video! One of my favorite labs to do with kids when I was teaching high school. As usual another great production. Hey...let me know if you d like to meet at Elk Garden this spring..gap between Whitetop and Mount Roger's and colab on a Yonahlossee salamander video. (Also great camping/hiking and AT. ) I recently collabed on finding rattlesnakes by Google map satelite..with producer of MD/DE helping. It was really fun. Your channel is recalling growing by leaps and bounds! Great work!
I’m gonna be out of the country for a good chunk of time this spring! I’m in Florida right now getting a bunch of spider and insect videos filmed to carry me through the Ecuador trip, so not sure if I’ll be able to make it in prime salamander season. Would love to work with you sometime though! Really respect the work you’re doing on your channel!
@MyWildBackyard the respect is way mutual and inspiring to see a young person so enthusiastically embracing nature and nature education! Yes ...I have been watching your Florida adventures! Will keep it touch! Have an amazing Ecuador experience! I am still releasing videos from my Swiss trip. Two fantastic episodes coming soon on Fire Salamanders! I am back in Switz italy and Spain at end of May! Let's keep in touch!
@@natureatyourdoor sure thing! Sounds super exciting! Best of luck out there 🫡
Wow Spencer, very cool!! I specifically remember hearing about this and survival in space! Another great find!!
Thanks so much! Wanted to try something a little different this month! (Sorry for late reply, I’m in Florida on production right now and have filmed 7 videos since Wednesday 🙃)
Pretty cool. When I was a kid I had a microscope and I love looking at these different things. You're bringing back a wonderful childhood memory. Ty4Sharing
Just found my first ostracod. I was so excited haha weirdest little dude
Gotta love the water bear! The cutest microorganisms of all time. 😍 I may just have to invest in a new microscope now.....
It’s super fun! Be careful though cause the hours just disappear from you when you have one
"I wrestled a bear and won!"
The bear:
Thank you for your content , I have been binge watching! Would you do a video on freshwater hydras or jellyfish ?
I want to cover BOTH so bad. Gotta find em first though
@@MyWildBackyard I used to scuba dive in a quarry near Faulkville , Alabama and it was full of jellyfish . Really cool !
Studying microbes in the forest is what I believe bigfoots are up to. Maybe one can make a compilation of all the microbes they find in the forest sometime. Just an idea, thanks
Very interesting idea. Should I use microbes as bait to finally catch Bigfoot?
@@MyWildBackyard you probably could but contaminating forests with foreign microbes probably not a good idea. Making compilations of microbes that already exists in each forest sounds like very useful information on how to preserve mother nature. You might even find scientific breakthroughs.
Hey you know how crickets usually have that weird small little tale thing? I found a creature of some sort like that just about the same size as a cricket but it was in a river with like no legs fins or anything it moved almost like a snake would but it had one of those long weird tail things on it. Have you ever come across one of those before?
Sounds like some sort of insect larva. Possibly a stonefly or something
water scorpion maybe
I absolutely LOVED this vid !!!! I happen to find water bears super cute lol 😂… finding one in your moss samples makes sense as I believe I’ve also heard them called Moss Piglets !!! I really enjoy going out into the woods around my house n just looking ❤
Yes moss piglets! That was actually a more recent nickname that I learned, always heard water bear or tardigrade. Guaranteed there are some near you as well! They live everywhere!
Congratulations on finding one! You make me want to look at the moss in my yard when winter passes, see if I can find one.
You could probably find them even in frozen moss! They can survive the cold!
@@MyWildBackyard this might sound odd but do you think I could find them on moss that’s on a hanging flower pot? Otherwise I’d have to look under the snow here.
@@northerngal1009 absolutely. Or lichen on trees. They’re in a lot of surprising places
I found one! This last Saturday I found one! The moss fom my hanging plant had one. I got lucky and found it within 30 seconds of looking. I videoed it, it's not nearly as close up as yours. I just held my phone camera up and eventually got it. 😊
Very interesting video Spencer. 👍👍
Thank you!
i know all about the tardigrade but i'll still watch another video on it
Honestly same 😂 that’s me with tardigrades, most insects and spiders
Neat video. Tardigrades are pretty cool.
Thanks!
Nice change of pace. Usually gotta watch boring jargon filled microscopy videos to see one of these little guys in action.
Glad to deliver! Any other microscopic creatures you’d like to see?
@@MyWildBackyard Well the tardigrade is famous. I'm not that well versed in the microcosmos, but what about Daphnia. It's a water flea that has a blowfish like defense mechanism. Might be cool to see that in action...They should be easy enough to get a hold of anyway, They're big enough to see without a microscope, but you can see their hearts beating through their skin and several other characteristics make them popular in microscopy.
What an amazing creatures! Half-Life 2 Combine Advisors resamble them a lot.
I have several aquariums so I deal a lot with copepods, seed shrimp, and detritus worms. I wonder if there are any tardigrades in there. I recently have gotten a hydra infestation which, they are really interesting, but not good for my shrimp and fry.
I would wager there are likely tardigrades in there! Might be hard to find but it’s worth a look
Awesome footage!
Thanks!
That was really fascinating.
Thank you! Glad you found it interesting!
I used to poke fun at people that believed in God. But the more I look at creation the more i see a divine creator behind it. Even all the protein cells in our bodies are all individual machines with gears and moving parts. There is no way this all happened by chance. Now they are finding out that plants make noise when they are cut. And trees communicate. It's amazing. I could spend all my life in nature and never get bored. Who needs a vacation when you can explore the woods in your own yard and find out new things everyday.
Just wondering what brand and model microscope do you have ?
We need to get you an electron microscope Spencer
Dude cool video idea!
Thank you! Something different to try!
Spencer we love❤ your content
Thank you! Love chatting in the comments with you guys!
Tardies, too!?!?!!! YAY!!!! I hope you don't mind if I include your vid in my Tard Playlist!!! I put all things "Tardy" there!!!! I really need to make one gor Velvet Worms, too!!! Soon! 💖💖💖
I have dirted planted tanks. I need a microscope in my life..
Just imagine all the elements that had to fall in perfect harmony, in the perfect space, at the perfect time.. So many things had to happen just right and in the right environment at exactly the right ratios for life to even happen. Also our planet being in the exact right spot for it all to happen!
DNA (an actual language) couldn't exist without a nucleus which couldn't exist with a cell which couldn't exist without a proper environment. Life is amazing and it is why I loved biology as a child. Still do in fact.
Edit: Also it amazes me how small these guys are and still have a brain to operate these tiny bodies. Or some similar thing to a brain, haha. I mean, we see bugs with less complexity than these guys and their brains are MUCH bigger than the whole water bear. Simply mind boggling!
It’s insane. Biology literally is incredibly fascinating, and simply taking time to understand how nature works is such a rabbit hole. Going deeper- think about how gravity works, or what atoms are at their core- truly a fascinating thing to exist in the first place
@@MyWildBackyard Couldn't have said it better myself.
Can you tell us more about your microscope set up?
Sure can! Bought one on Amazon for like $120 or so, then the really powerful one was gifted to me when I was presenting for a class. Shoot me an email (I'm on a production trip at the moment and don't have the specific model details at the moment) at mywildbackyard.ytmail@gmail.com and I can get those to you when I'm back in NC!
What’s the microscope using ?
A vacuum would boil it's water in it's body.
They need water to survive... like bears...
They are totally badass
I wonder if they could survive being in the deepest part of the ocean, say the Mariana Trench, or the Challenger Deep!
Funny enough I think we have found some there! As well as in hydrothermal vents. They really are metal
wow so freaking cool!!!!!!
Glad you enjoyed! Such a fun one to make!
DC Comics created a character based on this creature for the comic SUPERMAN VS LOBO (DC Black Label).
I’ll check it out! Love comics
@@MyWildBackyard Sorry it took me so long to reply but I just thought of something since I just re-read the comic.
Since you said you were going to check it out, when you do, it´d be great if you made a video talking about it.
You should do one on dust mites
Good idea!
@@MyWildBackyard thx
you think theyre big? you should see the Abyssal Copepods!
How magnified is it?
Depends on the shot. My microscope goes up to 1200x but since I shoot in high resolution I blew up some of the shots to fill the screen. Maybe 4000x at the most in this video!
I loved how Star Trek: Discovery utilised these guys ;)
thank GOD that hot garbage was canceled 😀 good riddance to one of the most horrible shows ever made, hopefully picard is soon next lol stupid nonsensical fake star trek is a total abomination
I will have to look that up!
@@MyWildBackyard I though it was a damn good idea anyways
Cool
I wonder if the ones they crashed into the moon are still doing fine. Gonna go to moon in a couple years and there’s gonna be giant water bears.
Hard to say! We’ve recorded them surviving in that cryptobiosis state for decades so I wouldn’t be surprised!
Does this count as an animal? or is it a microorganism?
Both! Microorganism doesn’t really apply to any one taxonomic group, but rather organisms too small to see with the naked eye. And tardigrades are distantly related to arthropods, which are also in the animal kingdom
@@MyWildBackyard I see, it's interesting to see that an animal that live on our planet can survive in space!
Hey Spencer, Green Anoles and Skinks were my target today, my Coral snake was hungry I fed him the skink. It's cool watching him kill and eat his prey!
First?
Yep! You're first!
i hope youre a school teacher
I am not. Considered it when I first finished university, but now I do this full-time!
🙄 evolve, come on dude just stop it smh stop promoting flimsy theories as fact 😒
Thank You, I did Not Know this... More Please...
Sure thing!