Okay, I’ve just reached a whole new level of geekdom, and I couldn’t be more excited! Today I joined the International Society of Tardigrade Hunters. (Membership is free.) There’s instructions on how to hunt your very own tardigrades, and ways to share them with the scientific community. There’s even a blog. I’ve also joined a Facebook group called Tardigrades are Awesome.
Tardigrades, also known as water bears, are tiny 8-legged creatures that are smaller than the period at the end of this sentence. You come into contact with thousands of them every day without even realizing it. They look like a cross between the Michelin tire man and your toddler in flannel footie pajamas and an astronaut in a space suit. Only with 8 legs. And claws. And sharp little teeth. What’s not to love?
My next step is to find a cheap microscope on Craig’s List. Then I’ll be observing these fascinating little guys, and if successful, I’ll be sending them off to the University of North Carolina, where they’ll look at them with a much more high powered microscope and if they find them interesting, they’ll take photos of them and put them on the society’s blog. That’s when I’ll know I’ve truly arrived!
What rekindled my interest in these creatures is reading this article, which shows that they can even survive being frozen solid for 31 years! They also survive the vacuum of space. They must be living right.
While I search for an affordable microscope, I’ll listen to the Tardigrade Song by Cosmo Sheldrake and smile.
The View from a Drawbridge 
I am now officially a tardigrade hunter too! Gotta go get my microscope now 🙂 cool story!
Thanks Betti! Let me know how you do!
I want one for a pet… preferably a really big one… the size of a Rottweiler
You probably have hundreds of them within feet of you even as you read this. Now you just have to come up with names. Don’t know what to tell you about the size issue.
nobody even knows what to tell me about the size issue… sigh… HA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Rolling my eyes. 🙂
…ooo000ooo…
I bet the military is already trying to grow them larger and weaponize them…an army of tardigrades would be a formidable force…and would probably wipe out the human race 🙂
I don’t know. They’d probably not want to be bothered, knowing full well that they’ll survive long after we’re gone anyway. I bet tardigrades are extremely patient.
Bahahahahaha I love it that would be one cool pet!
oh yeah
Finally an easy to care for pet that can withstand even the most neglectful human. I’ve had my eye on these critters for awhile and have wondered what happens if you accidentally ingest one? None of the articles I’ve seen cover this.
That’s a really good question. Given how indestructible they are, I’d bet they pass on through, none the worse for wear.
How do you send them away without them escaping?
They have their own agendas, even more so than cats. 🙂