Outnumbered

The long wriggly creature in this video is a Nematode:



These can be found almost everywhere on the Earth. There are thousands of varieties whch inhabit the ocean bed, ponds, underground in mines, in soil and even in a small piece of moss. That is where I found this one. It is thought there are approximately 60 billion Nematodes to every human. We are well and truly outnumbered.

Life in Moss

I picked up a bit of moss kindly thrown on my path by a bird. It was placed in a small petri dish and soaked with boiled tap water for a few hours:



Then the moss was removed and squeezed to drip some of the moisture in another dish. Now a small amount of that liquid was picked up in a pipette and a drop or two placed on a microscope slide. With the naked eye only a few minute dots could be seen in the water. After adjusting the lighting the sample was viewed to see what microscopic life could be found and photographs taken. Here are a few:

A nematode:


Probably a rotifer:


An as yet unidentified creature:


I must try this again with some moss from a different place.