Is it possible that you saw the world's largest earthworm/nightcrawler? That's a Giant Gippsland Earthworm. Of course, that's nothing compared to the South African Giant Earthworms -- the recordsetter there was 22 feet long! The Twinkie looked very yummy, then the naked rat ruined my appetite...damn...lol. ;-) Meh. Naked mole rate are nothing. If you want weird looking, check out the Star-Nosed Mole: Of course, Naked mole rats are a pretty cool species. They live more like a hive of bees -- one big breeding female and a ton of workers. And just like with bees and ants, different moles have different jobs -- tunnellers, guards, etc. The female gets really long when pregnant, rather than fat, so she can still fit through tunnels. And what tunnels they are -- a single colony's tunnels can be miles in length and cover the area of a football field. And they can burrow through concrete -- literally. They're also cold-blooded -- they regulate their body temperature by moving into higher or deeper tunnels. They feed by chewing bits out the cores of tubers, but then packing them back full of soil so that they'll regrow. Here's a couple more pics :) Homely, yes, but kind of cute in a way.

frankly.. the pics look like my garden.. after the first hard frost ... i do NOT grow most of the plants you ask about... but i do have a smokebush .. it is deciduous up here.. so browning leaves in november.. isnt all that surprising... frost is a weird creature.. able to hit a whole plant.. or just parts of the plants.. especially in an over-stuffed garden .... frost would also answer why otherwise evergreen plants for your zone might be affected .... there is a website that tracks temps by zip code ... but i dont have the link .... see link but i think you are on the right track ... its november... its not really time to be FIXING things with chemicals.. or jumping to conclusions about removal .. personally i would wait until spring and see what develops .... one other oddity.. is that in your otherwise.. presumably healthy garden.. a bunch of diverse plants.. get a weird malady.. overnight.. again.. bringing me back to frost .... the odds of such is astronomical ... but for wild temp swings .... good luck ken Here is a link that might be useful: it popped into my head

- shrimp plant really looks like shrimp. - haworthia 'star window' has translucent window-like leaves that are fascinating. - haworthia 'zebra' is another really cool haworthia - aeonium schwarzkopf is a beautiful, striking purple color - lamb's ear is soft and cuddly - many kalanchoe varieties are quite hairy and strange-looking. - and then there's horsetail plant. its a very tall, strange, almost reed-appearing plant, but it is extremely aggressive, and once it flowers (which doesn't look like a flower, but more a swelling at the tip), it sends out spores and it is never to be gotten rid of. i have found my favorite strange plants by going to places that sell succulents and just browsing for what looks unusual.

I don't know what happened - and I see those round things in the "cast" too - but not all the time. I'm going to dig some up and take it to the worm place one weekend and find out what it is. . . they aren't egg sacs! Drats!! And SOME grow legs and move around and others just stay round and shiny. . . well, I'm feeding this weekend too so I'll report back on those THINGS!! Hopefully they are GONE! Nell