Giant Gippsland Worm

  Last month, I learned that there was a worm in Australia that grows to be over two meters long! This earthworm is called the Giant Gippsland Worm. It lives in Gippsland, Australia, and was discovered in 1878. They thought it was a snake!
  One of the interesting things about this earthworm is that it never comes above ground. I know, you're thinking I'm an idiot. Of course it never comes up, it's a worm, worms live underground. But worms do come above ground. When it rains, for example. Or when the population density becomes too great. But the only thing that can force the Gippsland worms up is a very heavy rain. And by very heavy, I mean buckets are being emptied somewhere up in the sky. That kind of rain.
  They live in elaborate, permanent burrows on the sides of steep hills and valleys, but is also found in gray-blue clay on stream banks. Their habitat is down to a few sparse miles, forty total. But their distribution within that land is patchy, and their population density is unusually low, only two per thirty-five feet.
  Funny thing is, farmers who have them on their property are extremely proud, but for the most part they do nothing to save them. Giant Gippsland Worms are a threatened species, and conservation measures are very limited.
  But these worms cannot just bounce back quickly like other earthworm species could. These have a comparatively slow life cycle, it takes a year for them to mature inside their cocoon, and then it takes several years to become sexually mature. Personally, that makes me put their name on the possible sentient list, but maybe that's just 'cause I'm worm crazy.