Earthworms, Dirt, and Rotten Leaves

I got a book called "Earthworms, Dirt, and Rotten Leaves: an Exploration in Ecology" by Molly McLaughlin and it didn't take me long to realize that much of what she says is very different from what I've learned in my explorations thus far. For instance, on page 13 she writes that earthworms can "often grow new sections if they're cut at a certain part of their bodies".The fact is that they rarely are able to regenerate the lost sections, ninety-nine percent of the time they die. On page 18 she writes about why worms avoid the sunlight, but says nothing about how they get paralyzed in bright sunlight.
Page 27 is simply confusing. She suggests some foods to feed to worms and gauge which ones they like better. The food she suggests are: "coffee grounds, cornmeal, pieces of onion, cabbage, lettuce or other vegetables, bits of fruit, hamburger, or crumbled-up egg". Whether she means eggshells, hard boiled eggs, raw eggs, Easter eggs, or scrambled eggs is left to the creative interpretation of her readers.
She tells us on page 29 that earthworms eat the soil as they tunnel along, while everywhere else I have read tells me that they do not eat the soil, although it is a common myth.
This last thing isn't an issue with her facts, but I find it really annoying how she says 'probably' so often. In some chapters it's in almost every sentence!
I do realize that this book was written for younger people, so I did forgive a lot, but she should definitely have gotten her facts straight before she wrote a book.

Worm Moon

I found out something interesting today. The full moon in March is known as the 'Worm Moon'. The Farmer's Almanack says that the moon is named after the lowly earthworm because;

"As the temperature begins to warm and the ground begins to thaw, earthworm casts appear, heralding the return of the robins. The more northern tribes knew this Moon as the Full Crow Moon, when the cawing of crows signaled the end of winter; or the Full Crust Moon, because the snow cover becomes crusted from thawing by day and freezing at night. The Full Sap Moon, marking the time of tapping maple trees, is another variation. To the settlers, it was also known as the Lenten Moon, and was considered to be the last full Moon of winter."

The full moon, or worm moon, this month is going to be on March 8. So be on the lookout for the earthworms and robins!

Sunday

This Sunday, my church was doing a thing called 'Share God's Love Sunday'. We set up examples of our hobbies and passions in a big room, and we got to tell people about them. I, naturally, brought my worms. At first, mostly little kids hovered around me, each wanting a turn to hold a worm. Most of them remembered that I brought my worms last time, but that didn't diminish their excitement. After the kids left, more adults came, wanting to learn. Most of them wanted to hear about how the worms are used for gardening, but some others were more interested in the history (At least, they were after I told them that most worms are not native to North America.). I wish I had taken some pictures, but I was busy (and my hands were dirty), so I'll see if I can find some on facebook or something.

All My Ideas Are Gone

I'm starting to run out of ideas about what to write about. Should I talk about robins eating earthworms? The spread of invasive earthworms? The increased usage of worm castings as fertilizer? Should I contact a professional worm-grower (somehow I managed to make that sound like a sport, don't know how I did that) and get him to tell us all about his average day? What should I write about???

Actually, looking at all of that, I may have some ideas after all.

Radiation Free Worms? Not So Much.

I thought this was interesting. Japanese researchers collected earthworms 20-150 km away from the crippled power plant there and tested them for cesium. What they found is almost shocking; the earthworms collected had 1000-300 becquerels of cesium in them, depending on how far away from the plant they were collected. The government allowed limit for human exposure is only 500 becquerels. How can these earthworms, these small, moist, fragile denizens of the earth, be able to withstand such high contamination levels? Yet another mystery about worms.

You can see the article I got this information from here.

Poetry?

Next week at my school, there is going to be a Poetry Slam. For those of you who don't know, a Poetry Slam is basically a contest, you have to read an origional poem and are judged on the poem and how you read it.
I want to do a poem about worms, but I'd also like some people's opinions before I read it next week. So please comment on anything I should add, take away, or anything else I can do better. Compliments are also nice. But keep in mind that I am not quite finished.

Wriggling,

Through the dirt,

Not a care in the world,

An earthworm is picked

Up

By a careless child

The child

Not knowing its precious burden

Goes to the tool shed

In the corner of the backyard

Withdraws a trowel

And cuts the worm in two

Singing a song about earthworms,

Singing a song about earthworms.

A Robin,

Sitting high on a tree

Looks down in the grass and sees the

Earthworm

Unable to move

Slowly dying on the freshly mowed lawn

It swoops down

And gently snatches the worm

From its soft deathbed of grass clippings

The Robin flies back to her nest

And looks fondly at her fledglings

As she dangles the worm in front of them

And they

Chirp a song about worms

Chirp a song about worms

Zombie Worms?

'Zombie' Worms Found in North Sea Shallows

10/19/2005

The Independent (London, England)

By Steve Connor Science Editor
A bizarre species of 'zombie' worm that feeds on the bones of dead whales has been discovered living in the relative shallows of the North Sea.
The worm belongs to a new class of marine organism that has made a speciality out of scavenging on the huge carcasses of whales. Scientists were amazed to have found an entirely new species in an area of the ocean that they considered to be one of the most intensively studied marine habitats.
'We were astounded to discover a species completely new to science in an environment that is so well known,' said Adrian Glover, a marine biologist at the Natural History Museum in London.
'It is amazing that discoveries of novel organisms are being made even right on our doorstep. You don't have to spend billions sending people into space, or even the deep sea, to discover new species and throw up new scientific questions,' he said.
Dr Glover and Thomas Dahlgren of Goteborg University in Sweden found the new worm on the bones of a dead, stranded minke whale they had towed out to sea before dropping to a depth of 120 metres.
They studied the decomposition of the carcass using a remotely-operated submersible.
After hagfish had stripped the bones of flesh, the scientists found the bared bones were soon colonised by the worm, which they have called Osedax mucofloris, which means bone-eating snot flower.
'We sometimes called them snot worms because when they retreat into their tubes they leave mucus behind which is probably a defensive mechanism,' Dr Glover said.
Last year, scientists in America found similar organisms feeding on the bones of dead whales buried at depths of 2,500 metres, which they nicknamed 'zombie worms'. But the species living in the North Sea is genetically distinct from the species discovered off the coast of California, according to a study published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.
There are remarkable similarities between the two species of worm despite being so far away. Both worms use root-like appendages to burrow into the bone where they feed on whale oil stored within the bone cavities, Dr Glover said.
'The worms have bacteria in their tissues which they use to degrade the oil to produce energy,' he said. 'Osedax has no mouth or intestines and derives all its food from these symbiotic bacteria that the worm has somehow managed to acquire during its development,' Dr Glover explained.

The Family
1) The new worm belongs to a group called the Annelids, which includes the common earthworm.
2) It is believed the new species is related to tube worms that live near deep-sea vents called 'black smokers'. Those worms can grow up to six feet long.
3) In an acre of land there can be a million earthworms, each can eat its own body weight a day.




(I lifted this arcticle off http://www.wormdigest.org/content/view/159/2/)

A Random Paper

I found this paper by Li Kangmin. It's worth half an hour or so to read; however, be warned that it's more technical than anything I've written on here before. It can be very confusing at times, but it's an interesting look into China's sewage treatment, or how it should be at least. It is also maybe a bit out of date; it was written in 2005.  
But it's definitely worth a read.
http://www.wormdigest.org/content/view/135/2/

Those Fracking Worms!

  So I'm kicking myself for not getting some pictures taken of my worms. But I have been pretty busy, so I guess it's to be expected that I forgot. Midterms and exams are in two weeks, so I'm trying to cram as much info as possible into my head. Luckily, I have a nice time when I can relax and do something I enjoy; blog to you guys. So here's the next blog.

  Fracking:

• The pumping of crude oil, diesel, water or chemicals into a reservoir with such force that the reservoir rock is cracked and results in greater flow of oil or gas from the reservoir.

  Fracking is kind of dangerous. The chemicals that are pumped into the ground end up in people's drinking water; some of the water is so chemical-ridden that it can be lit on fire as it's coming out of the tap. My question is; if this water can be lit on fire, what is it doing to the worms in the area?

  No one knows. As far as I can tell, no one has done any type of study to see what effect fracking has on a worm's fragile skin. But all you have to do is think about it. If the groundwater is filled with so many chemicals, that can't be good for any kind of life. And we all know how fragile earthworms are, some species can die just from being picked up! I think that we should stop focusing on reducing our dependence on foreign oil and start reducing our dependence on ANY oil! Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to start a political argument or anything, I'm just concerned about the innocent earthworms that are living in these areas and have no idea why they are all dying.

  If I have any misinformation or you find something I missed, feel free to comment.

My Worms



A Worm Factory in the middle of a garden



  Almost exactly a year ago, I got my worms. I had gotten a 'Worm Factory' for Christmas and my mom ordered the worms from Uncle Jim (I don't recommend this place, the worms arrived in bad condition and I didn't get the pound I ordered.). The worms arrived a few days later, and I was ready to begin.
  At first, caring for them was easy. I had read that the most common newbie mistake was overfeeding and I was determined not to make that mistake. Unfourtunatly, I ended up doing the exact opposite, I underfed them. The dirt dryed out and I started to freak out a bit. But the solution was simpler than I anticipated, I sprayed the soil with water a few times a day, and started feeding them more.

  Which opened the way for my next mistake. Overfeeding this time. My mom runs a foodbank, so when she got some produce she didn't feel comfortable giving away, she gave it to me for my worms. So one day I carelessly dumped almost two pounds of mellon into the worm bin. It stank. I was afraid to open the bin for a month after that because after a week, it was seriously smelly. Mom even made me move the bin from under the kitchen counter to the porch because some fruitflys started hanging around it.

  So now I'm almost to my third tray, I'm feeding them a bit more slowly since that fiasco, and the worms are back inside (they would have frozen to death by now if they were outside, it snowed yesterday!!!). For my next post, if I remember to and if my sister lets me borrow her camera, I'll post pictures of my lovely worms and their beautiful castings.

Predators

 

  Earthworms have many predators, because they are small, defenseless, and protein-rich. One obvious predator is fish. Fish, snakes, birds, insects, rodents, such as, chipmunks, rats, skunks... the list is endless.  But the most interesting one that I have found is the mole.
  Moles may seem cute and cuddly on the outside, but inside is a heartless beast. When an earthworm falls into a mole run, the mole senses it (don't ask me how), runs to where it fell, and swiftly kill and eat it. Usually. Sometimes, instead of eating it, the mole will capture it and keep it in its lair for the lean times. The mole's saliva has a toxin in it that the mole uses to paralyze the earthworm. Thousands of worms have been found in one mole's burrow. When they get hungry, the mole does not simply munch on the earthworms it has stored in its house, first it pulls the earthworm between its paws to get as much dirt as possible out of its gut.


Here are some fun facts about moles:

All of the North American mole species have sharp outward facing claws atop their front and rear feet with rear feet narrower and longer than the front.

The Chehalis Indian word for mole literally means "hands turned backward".

Green vegetation added to mole nests after the young are born add heat to the nest cavity as it decays that keeps the babies warm when mom is out for the day.

Young moles disperse above ground at night during the month after weaning, forming their own territories within about 30 yards of their birth site.

Moles reach sexual maturity at ten (10) months old and breed in their first winter.

Constantly eating, a mole will consume 45-50 lbs of worms and insects each year!

Moles are adept at their job and can dig surface tunnels at rates of nearly 18 feet in an hour.

Moles are fast and that is a fact! They can travel through existing tunnels at speeds reaching near 80 feet per minute.

Living underground is serious business. To assist moles in getting enough oxygen underground their physiological make up is such that they contain twice as much blood and double the hemoglobin as other mammals of their size. This helps moles to breathe underground where oxygen levels are low. 

Townsend's Moles have been known to make as many as 805 mounds per hectare.

Broad-Footed Moles have forefeet that are almost as wide as they are long; hence their name.

A single Coast Mole may make 200—400 molehills from October to March.

The Star-nosed mole has a very unique physical characteristic that, according to experts, is not known to present on any other mammal in world, a star nose! This nose consists of 22 appendages surrounding its nostrils.

Researchers have recently determined that these “fingers” are actually sensitive organs used to manipulate objects.

The Hairy-Tailed Mole is also known as the Brewer's Mole.

The Eastern Mole is also known as the Topos.

The Broad Footed Mole is also known as Topociego.

The Townsend’s Mole is also known as the Snow Mole.

The American Shrew Mole is also known as the Gibb's Shrew Mole, and the Least Shrew Mole.

American Shrew Moles are not as well adapted for digging as other moles, and have forepaws that are oriented sideways. This allows them to place their front feet flat on the ground.
Surface tunnels connect with deeper runways that are located 3 to 12 inches below the surface, but may be as deep as 40 inches.

Mole tunnels measure about 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 inches in diameter.

In wet weather tunnels are shallow.

The Star-Nosed Mole is an excellent swimmer, and can stay underwater for up to three minutes!

The Star-Nosed Mole has been seen swimming under the ice.

(fun facts were obtained from http://www.outwitcritters.com/mole/facts.html)