Worm Musk

I made a discovery today that amazed me and slightly disgusted me at the same time.

Much like a snake does when highly stressed, a worm can "musk" you. Why they don't call it what it is - scaring the piss out of them (or shit, as the case may be)? I don't know why they don't just say it like it is, but that's not the point. I've discovered that worms can and do indeed excrete on you as a defense mechanism.

I guess all worms have this ability. I've not found anything to the contrary. I've also seen a picture of the process taking place, and mine didn't look like that. It was clear, colorless and scentless (as far as I could tell). Yes, like a first grader, I had to smell it.

The worm that "did it" to me - a night crawler. And our night crawlers are becoming more numerous and have increasing agility. I swear they're evolving into some new kind of snake. I've never seen worms move with the speed these buggers do.

So, what is this substance the little crapper placed in my hand as I was actually being KIND to him by moving him out of harms way? Coleomic Fluid. Yeah. Say that 10 times fast. Apparently, they have this tube that runs the length of their body that can be filled with this Coelomic Fluid. It does a couple of things - it reserves food for a later date - that would be nice. It transports nitrogenous waste away from the body - waste and extra food together. Mmm. Not so nice. And it works similarly to a hydraulic system, but allowing the worm to create rigid areas with muscular pressure - which helps them move.

Oh yeah - and to crap on other creatures that might be eating them at that particular moment. I'm guessing this last one doesn't work in the animal kingdom since I've never seen a robin turn a worm away. But, if that's my weapon of last resort, I guess I'd be using it too.


Shockingly, I couldn't find a single picture of what actually happened to me. There is one at Composting Red Worms. It's not a very exciting picture, and you can barely see the fluid. It's sad, for those of us who need to be creeped out by strange phenomena.

The slightly interesting part of this - night crawlers are changing our landscape. Literally even. Since those of us who live above the glacier line - such as NYS (gravel pit of America), have absolutely no native worm species. All of our forests and land in general, developed after the glacier left and without a single worm. For this reason, the deep bio matter on the forest floors developed its own little ecosystem, which developed a very large, diverse food chain.

And now, with people paying attention to worms, and worse - FISHING with them - they've invaded our woods, changing them forever. I'm guessing there is no way to remove them all from these remote locations, and thus, the forests will just become a very different ecosystem than what we have become accustomed to. It may spell doom for species like the Wood Thrush and Veerie - who's calls are by far the most beautiful and enchanting you'll ever hear. Or, species higher up on the food chain, will adapt and change their diet to include the new creepy crawlies abounding in the forest litter.

All of this because a worm peed on me.