Have you ever seen a blue spot in the snow and wondered if it was a spilled ICEE, a splash of washer fluid or a melted Smurf?
The Minneapolis Parks and Recreation Board recently posted photos online with the more likely answer: rabbit urine.
Staffers shared the science behind the surprising phenomenon.
“Eastern cottontails (the most common rabbit in Minnesota, you’ve probably seen them running around yards at dusk) sometimes eat buckthorn branches and bark, especially toward the end of winter,” Minneapolis Parks wrote on social media. “Buckthorn contains a phytochemical that turns urine blue after being exposed to sunlight.”
Buckthorn is a non-native, invasive plant that crowds out native shrubs and small trees that provide habitat for many species of birds, according to the Department of Natural Resources. So blue rabbit urine is a sure sign there are some plants nearby that ought to be removed. (Buckthorn is such a problem in Minnesota that it is illegal to import, sell or transport it in the state.)
In case you were wondering, Iowa-based Blue Bunny ice cream got its name from a child who saw blue rabbits in a department store window, not their brightly colored excretions.
And it probably goes without saying: Don’t eat blue snow.
