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Giant Palouse Earthworm captured

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T O P I C R E V I E W
Huckelberrywine	Posted - Apr 28 2010 : 2:12:23 PM I'm sure you've heard it on the news, but I must say, when I saw the photos, I was disappointed. It looks like a "normal" earthworm to me. Heck, I see really big earthworms around here all the time. I thought the GPE was supposed to be a 3 ft. long white one. Now an 8 inch one with rather transparent skin qualifies? Hmm. No comment. Maybe sightings and confirmations will rise, now that we know what to look for. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iJ2H31OEqLkMUl3ybH4LDk9DN0cQD9FBKD7G2 We make a difference.
14 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First)
Huckelberrywine	Posted - May 06 2010 : 2:14:55 PM How to tell a common, but large white worm from a rare GPE: A GPE is 6-8 inches long. I've read that the standard is to measure a preserved worm, since the corpse does not move/stretch, so eyeball it in the field. The band of a GPE runs from the 13th to about the 18th segment from the head. You can see in the photo that my worm's band starts 10ish segments further back than that. If it were a GPE, the band would start about where the pink of the head ends and the next bluish color (on my worm) appears. Segment 15 has no pores on a GPE. In my worm, pores are visible here (bottom side), and are used for reproduction. Hmm, could this be a link to the rarity of GPE's if they lack reproductive pores? (couldn't resist a little joke, I'm sure they must have something going on elsewhere...??) That is how it was explained to me. From what I understand, Bill Loftus at the U of I is now working on a sort of "layman's field guide" to identification. Sounds like a good idea. We make a difference.
CherryPie	Posted - May 06 2010 : 07:52:56 AM Michelle, what are the differences? Just curious.... Kimberly Ann Farmgirl Sister #225 Crochet Geek, Newbie Fiddler, Would-be Farmer, Backyard Chicken Rancher, Eager Podcaster http://beesinourbonnetsintheburbs.blogspot.com/ Podcasts at http://thefannyfarm.blogspot.com/
Huckelberrywine	Posted - May 05 2010 : 09:50:34 AM Quick note, my worm is not..alas...a GPE, but it is a big one of what it is. But it was nice to get a responce from the guy at the University of Kentucky who did the identification of the GPE in the news. :) Very helpful, and he pointed out the differences for me so that IF I find another oddly large whitish worm out there, I will have a better idea of how to tell if it is something special. :) So, I learned something after all. We make a difference.
Alee	Posted - May 04 2010 : 4:00:04 PM Michelle- that was my first thought- I wonder if they have been capturing juveniles. And maybe they are being found now because they are preserving the last bit of untouched prairie? Who knows? :D I am glad you have your bit of untouched prairie. I think that there is the big guy out there and that they are rare and hopefully smart enough to burrow deep enough that the ground shocks aren't bringing to to the surface. Alee Farmgirl Sister #8 www.awarmheart.com www.farmgirlalee.blogspot.com www.allergyjourneys.blogspot.com Put your pin on the farmgirl map! www.farmgirlmap.blogspot.com
Huckelberrywine	Posted - May 04 2010 : 3:44:52 PM I'd like to think the "really big one" is still out there. Who knows? Why not? :) I can't even get the U of I or the U of K to respond to my request to help identify what I've got. And I'm not going to kill it to send it in for disection. Though I did realize I could have set down my sewing tape to give an approximate measure (smack forehead)...funny how we think in a rut and forget sometimes to improvise what we need with what we have. I'll have to take another picture that gives a better perspective on size. Not sure, but I think this is a pretty charged topic...using it as a flag species to argue for the protection of the remaining 1% of Palouse Prarie. Wouldn't look good if a local gal found one at her house and they turned out to be rather common, just unreported/unnoticed because we all thought it was supposed to be white, spitting, lily scented, and 3 ft long. What would happen to all that research? Or the endangered status? Or the prarie preservation? I don't know. Not going to lose sleep over it. But I am going to keep an eye on my weird worm and not bait a hook with it. Maybe it will grow? lol Life is interesting. We make a difference.
CherryPie	Posted - May 04 2010 : 08:29:54 AM I don't buy that the big earthworm doesn't exist. Of course, I still believe in Nessie, Big Foot, unicorns and faeries, so that shows what my opinion is worth. :-) Kimberly Ann Farmgirl Sister #225 Crochet Geek, Newbie Fiddler, Would-be Farmer, Backyard Chicken Rancher, Eager Podcaster http://beesinourbonnetsintheburbs.blogspot.com/ Podcasts at http://thefannyfarm.blogspot.com/
Alee	Posted - May 03 2010 : 7:49:23 PM I think it's pretty cool though! Alee Farmgirl Sister #8 www.awarmheart.com www.farmgirlalee.blogspot.com www.allergyjourneys.blogspot.com Put your pin on the farmgirl map! www.farmgirlmap.blogspot.com
Huckelberrywine	Posted - May 03 2010 : 12:35:13 PM :) I was thinking Palouse Earthworm myself.... Perhaps there is an acutal Giant Palouse Earthworm that is as described, but I'd guess mine isn't one, and probably the one they found isn't one either. If there ever were white, 3 ft. long, spitting lilly-scented worms, it seems no one has found one. I did try to identify this one, and it might be a blue-grey earthworm? Although the website I checked on mentioned the small size and showed one in comparison to a pen-cap (same length). Mine is much larger than that. Hmm. LOL http://www.opalexplorenature.org/?q=Bluegreyworm We make a difference.
Alee	Posted - May 02 2010 : 7:26:07 PM I think you might have found one! Or perhaps there is a second breed of native earthworms we could call the Slightly Lesser than Greater Palouse Earthworm? LOL (j/k) Alee Farmgirl Sister #8 www.awarmheart.com www.farmgirlalee.blogspot.com www.allergyjourneys.blogspot.com Put your pin on the farmgirl map! www.farmgirlmap.blogspot.com
Huckelberrywine	Posted - May 02 2010 : 6:09:29 PM Hmm, I don't know. It isn't 3 ft. long, but it doesn't look like the other earthworms I have. It is sort of transparent...and it pooped on me and exuded a yellowish whitish stuff when I poked it. I don't think I'll poke it again. As it wiggled across my hand, and as I was taking this photo, it is definitely a long worm, easily more than 6 inches. I didn't have a ruler, but it was dangling off my (small) hand palm to fingertip. Verdict? We make a difference.
Addybelle	Posted - Apr 28 2010 : 7:21:26 PM Kind of weird! My earthworms don't smell like lilies though. But, then again, who goes around sniffing earthworms? (apparently bored news crews) ~Adrienne http://addybellesgarden.blogspot.com Suffering from Barnheart...thanks Jenna W. :-)
graciegreeneyes	Posted - Apr 28 2010 : 7:08:48 PM Hmmmm..... Farmgirl #224 "use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without"
Mountain Girl	Posted - Apr 28 2010 : 6:05:55 PM I totally agree with you Michele. I saw the picture in the paper and said that's a "bleeping" earthworm or nite crawler as they say back in Minnesota. JoAnn
Marybeth	Posted - Apr 28 2010 : 3:57:55 PM Funny!!!! I mean funny peculiar. I have heard about the GPW for ages and now? I see they "the govmint and sech" are scaling back what to look for. No spitting, no 3 feet long, no green head, whatever. they found 2 and killed the adult male for research and kept the young one also for research. I hope they never find me. MB http://www.smallcityscenes.blogspot.com www.day4plus.blogspot.com "Life may not be the party we hoped for...but while we are here we might as well dance!"

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