One day this week, during a brief break in the rain, we spotted something creepy- crawling up foundation of the house. I had seen these things dried up in the driveway before and I had thought that they were "snake worms". Ewww, the mention of "snake" sends shivers up my spine. Anyway, this creepy guy (or gal?) was inching it's way up and I noticed it had a flat head. Ewwwwwww.
I can't believe I'm blogging about this.Anyway, I looked on the internet and quickly found out that this guy is called a Hammerhead worm and he is bad news to earthworms (which are good news to farmers and gardeners). I found this neat article on these guys so if you are interested, just click on over here to find out more.
Apparently, they devour earthworms (rather slowly and painfully by the way) and if you chop them up, each little piece multiplies into a totally new hammerhead worm. Blechhhh. Top get rid of him, you have to "dissolve" him. Hmmmmmm, that kind of creeps me out too. What to do.....?.....
By the way, Roly Polley Girl calls him a "pop" worm. She says they pop...?.... Even she didn't like him or he would have been named "Bob" like most other critters.
There you have it, the hammerhead worm or land planarian. A new critter found in my neck of the woods. I hope I don't see him again either.
Either way you look at it, we all learned something new today, how about you?
You tought me something new. I've never seen one before so therefore I had no idea they existed. It's sad that when they kill, it is slow and painful. :(
ReplyDeleteEalier this year, String 2009, I began seeing these things floating in my pool, clinging to windows, doors and patio equipment (especially after a rain). At first I thought they may be baby snakes, but later found out that they were HH worms.
ReplyDeleteANNOYING! I've seen tens of dozens of these things invading our backyard area over the summer. All I have found for treatment are direct contact approaches such as Vinegar\Citrus oil combo and salt.
Still have yet to find a broad treatment to apply to the backyard area as a whole.
Leave it to the Indo-Asians to mess up my backyard! LOL
Ken
Thanks Ken! It's nice to know that someone else has had to deal with these little creatures although it sounds like I haven't had to deal with even half as many as you have! Good luck fighting the Hammer Heads!
ReplyDeleteI found one in my house on the carpet! yuck!! I ended up flushing it down the comode!
ReplyDeleteWe found one in our back yard. I didn't know exactly what it was so I through it back in the yard. Well, guess I will be on the hunt for these nasty worms. Oh, we are in Fresno CA incase someone is tracking the worms.
ReplyDeleteI too have been seeing hammerhead worms in my back yard/garden/patio! I have tried to rid of them and have NOT been successful! I don't want to use citrus oil because it will destroy my flower garden. What is one to do? I have begun putting them in a empty coke bottle. They last for days in there but at least they are out of my garden! I would love to know more about getting rid of them. Gross!
ReplyDeleteMatthews, NC
I just found one in my yard in Georgia. I wasnt sure what it was so I did nothing. Now that I have researched it, I will be on the look out for the pests.
ReplyDelete