I have noticed the large number in the gardens. If there is rotting organic matter there, they will come.

I found an enormous night-crawler half-dead in my chicken run this morning. That is, I *hope* that it was only half-dead, because I scooped it up to try to do earthworm triage on it. It looked to be suffering from water loss, probably from scooting across the dried compacted clay and hot chicken droppings of the chicken run trying to find a place to get back underground.

I put in in the soft soil of a newly-dug area of the hoophouse and watered it in. Sure, I feel like others will find me silly, but I hope it recovers.

ralleia: Why not?? If it's a female, it'll probably reward you with hundreds of baby worms to increase soil aeration and provide worm "castings".

There are many places in the country where fishermen water their lawns before dark in Spring and Summer, then go out with a flaslight after dark and catch giant night crawlers which are drawn to the moisture to mate, as I wrote above.

First place I ever saw it many years ago during my youth was in Buffalo, New York, where I had relatives. I had only ever seen regular earthworms in my Maryland area, and I couldn't believe that "worms" of the size that I saw in Buffalo actually existed. It was a regualr adventure trying to catch them, as they generally don't move far from their exit holes (in the soil), and many kept at least part of their body in the exit hole--to quickly return when they "felt" the tread of humans, or when a light was shined on them.

Try it on the lawn at your house; you may be amazed that you have giant night-crawlers of which you were unaware.

From what I understand about earthworms, the one that I rescued is both female AND male.

I went out and checked on it an hour ago. He/she is ALIVE! I replaced the moist soil over her, put a nice mulch over that, and quietly rejoiced. :)

ralleia:

Kudos! It's always nice bringing something back from the brink, no matter how insignificant it may seem to the average person.

I've actually taken worms away from ants--when the ants were carrying the worm away, back to their ant hills (to cut up into little ant-sized, snack pieces, no doubt). I would see the worm still wiggling (weakly), traveling across the soil carried by its dozen, or so, protagonists, and generally too dehydrated and weak to put up any meaningful struggle.

So I'd pick 'em up, blow the ants off, wet 'em down a bit to rehydrate them, and put them in a shady spot amonst loose soil, and hope for the best. Usually it works if they're not already too far gone.

10-4, on worms being hermaphroditic, and some species even being parthenogenetic. And I further shouldn't exaggerate their reproductive abilities; As a youngster, I used to raise worms, and I've isolated single worms to check their baby-making ability, and the most babies I ever saw in the box with a single adult was two dozen, after a single mating.

This reminds me of the marketing campaign done by Domini Social Investments. A little girl is on the beach, where starfish have been washed ashore as far as the eye can see, and she is patiently picking them up and putting them back in the water. An adult admonishes her that it is a waste of time, and that it won't really make a difference. The little girl looks up at the grown-up, starfish in hand, and replies, "It will make a difference to this one."

Worms! Love em'.

I have two worm bins working away...and lord only knows how many are working "naturally" out in the yard. I raked some crushed egg shells in today and the worms were definitely up and about doing their thing.

This year was an amazing year for bed prep for me. I noticed a significant difference in the soil texture and worm population. From three years ago, its astounding. Some of the beds were as hard as a rock, now, rich black soil and worms galore. Gardening for modern man is more than just for food production, it also connects us to nature...on a small scale.

I've only been in this house (and state) for 5 years, so I can't compare much. But I've seen it so many times, here and in OH... The first time you put a shovel in a "new" bed, there's no worms. A few years later, after adding compost a couple times a year and leaves in the fall, there are worms ANYwhere you put a shovel.

I rescue worms, too. Glad I'm in good company!

Maybe 15 yrs ago, I parked my car in the community parking lot near work, there was a short break in the rain. I saw some earthworms in puddles, so I picked them up and carried them to the edge of the pavement, dug small holes with a stick, put the worms in and covered them up. I knew that if they had been exposed to 20 minutes of UV, all was lost, but I gave them the chance.

I had noticed the cop car, but didn't notice that it was occupied. Finally, the officer opened his window, and said, "I can't stand it. What are you doing?"

So I told him. It appeared to be a new idea to him. Maybe it took root.

Sue

Last week my dad and I went to a Honda dealership so I could test drive the compressed natural gas Civic. It had rained for a couple hours beforehand.

As we were getting ready to say good-bye to the car salesman, my dad called my attention to several of the huge earthworms drowning or dead on the pavement and suggested rescuing them.

So I'm talking to the car dealer but out of the corner of my eye all I could do was stare at those earthworms. It was all I could do to keep myself from starting to gather each of them up. Had they been healthier-looking (confirmed alive), then I'd have been all in.

Am I ever in good company. If I see an earthworm in distress on pavement, I always move to safety.

Two weeks ago I found the first earthworm of the season while preparing a bed for potatoes, spinach, and peas. I put it in the compost offerings basket, and then to the compost pile where it is hopefully thriving.

I love earthworms, especially night crawlers. I need to get a new worm bin set up. I use them both for fishing and gardening. After a fishing trip some of the worms will be a little off from being in a small container, and a single dead worm in a bin can sour the lot so after I go fishing I release the survivors in the garden.

If ever there was a time for pulling out the OMG, it is now... I just found this thread and OMG! I didn't know anyone else ever saved earthworms. I often spend a few minutes saving them from puddles or wide, hot driveways in the early a.m. I love that there are so many others who do the same!

I'm a worm rescuer too along with saving countless lizards from the jaws of my cats. I keep trying to explain to them lizards are good, but they don't get it.

Funny...New to composting and I've been worried about disrupting my worms while turning my compost this week. I feel like the Buddhist monks in Seven Years in Tibet-picking them up and moving them to safety. I'm sure there's a more efficient way?

BECK77--

I thought the same thing the other day!!! The scene where Brad Pitt laughs when he tells the Dalai Lama that building the movie house will take years if they try to save every worm???? I'm so glad I'm not insane. I feel distressed for my wormies every time I have to turn the bin. Earlier this spring when I was working on some new plantings, I harvested compost from the bin. As I scooped out the finished compost, I used two buckets-- one for the compost and one for the worms. I couldn't bear to hurt them!

I'm the same way with spiders, though. As I see it, they're "on the payroll", so I try not to bother or hurt them. This strategy is not well-liked by my arachnophobic husband.

All seriousness aside, some worms have proboscuses but not vaginas, they don't bother with foreplay either. They jab it in, right into the other worms skin, triggering the other to do the same, then they see who can get finished first. Not affectionate afterward, as well. . When I first studied the mating behavior of worms, I was apalled at people who liked to watch worms doing it. Very twisted professor. But the next semester, a renowned dung beetle specialist explained to me that dung beetles were actually native, and did much the same as earthworms for the soil. Just leave around a few dung paddies, and they will surely come...Could have gotten my masters at no cost if I had followed around the dung beetle for a few more years. But nope, I decided to cut ties and go out and find a real job. Thank you for your consideration.

Mackel

victorine72-glad to hear you got the movie reference and that there are others out there saving the worms. Was a teacher before having a baby and the preschoolers were always saving the worms from puddles on rainy days. That was often since we lived in Portland OR at the time!