Earthworms

EArthworms are a wonderful thing.  I read a book several year ago on them and they are the neatest creatures.

If you put a black or dark colored paper around the jar they will go more to the outside of the jar then the middle. They don’t care for sunlight. 🙂   Make sure you feed them. They like leaves and dead grass ect..  Just put it on top and they will come up and get them.

If you are out in the rain and you walk around; if you come back in  15 minutes you will see more worms. They come out by vibration in wet weather. They are trying to mate.   If pulling them out of the ground make sure you are quick and have a good hold because if they are being attacked they will swell up at the other end and hold onto the hole. (that is why you will see a bird pull and pull when he grabbed his grub…. )

  Don’t over water them. They need to breathe. If you see them hanging out in a puddle of water they are trying to hang onto their whole but trying to get oxygen. If they try to get out of a jar then you haven’t fed them and watered them and they are hungry!  They are not always slimy.

   They leave castings. This is where they have their eggs. THey may be there for a while before they hatch. There is so much to learn about worms. I don’t remember the name of the book I read but it gave me a love for the critters.   They are also not suppose to be left out in the air for more than two minutes. They dry out and die. So if you see one outside cover it up with something so it can have time to dig a whole. It takes energy and they can’t just dig one in a few minutes. 

  Hope this helps you.  If not take the kids fishing..