markusparkus
User
A Hatchling Earthworm
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what is it - 2006/05/04 13:01
Howdy all,
So I made myself a little worm bin (small desk drawer with holes drilled in it) and put in some bedding and then went worm hunting. I decided I'd just grab a handful out of the dirt rather than risk killing a whole pound of em. I'm keeping them out on the porch behind a cardboard sunblock. I live in Austin so it get's hot here.
So far so good. I got a good number(maybe 100)of worms out of the ground and after a few losses they seem to be settling in nicely.
So yesterday my wife says there are ants crawling over the cover of my little bin. I'd had ant trouble before and so put the bin up on stilts in some water. Seems that the soap in the water wore out and so the ants were able to cross the water and up into the bin.
I got out some tape and then began cleaning them out of the bin. Odd looking ants. They walk with their pointy butts kinda up in the air. Makes them look bent.
I can't really tell if they are a problem or not. Last time they were in the bin, they were working on pulling an entire worm out. I don't know if the worm was dead before they got to him or not. He looked kinda healthy, for being dead.
Anyway, I'm turning the bedding to flush out more ants (and because I'm very curious about what's going on in the bin) and I see this thing that I assume at first is a piece of thin thread about two inches long. Mostly white with a slight yellow tint. And then it moves! I pulled it out and couldn't make heads or tails of it. It started to look like it was drying quickly so I put a little bedding on it. I then went through the bedding and found another one. I put them in a plastic containder with some dirt to see if they'll grow into anything recognizable.
Any ideas about what this is? I'd include pics but I still haven't bought a digital camera.
I'm wondering if maybe they are baby planria? I wonder this because when I was gathering the worms on the first night in a gully out behind my apartments, my wife and I turned over a large stone to find the biggest planarian I've ever seen. It was easily close to three feet long. A monster. I had a very hard time not killing it.
Any thoughts on my mobile thread?
And are there any wormers here in Austin who might be interested in selling me a few worms? I'd like to get some more but not a whole pound just in case I do something stupid.
-Mark
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