What I didn’t know, killed them.
I’m a sucker for earthworms. Nightcrawlers. Bait worms. Whatever you call them, they tug at my heart when I see their slick little bodies trying to navigate our rough, cruel asphalt. I honestly don’t know why I love worms, but obviously from my reaction when I encounter one, I am a true softy.
Last night it rained, and while walking my dog this morning I noticed that there were no worms to be found. They may have been hiding from me. See, more than 10 years ago, there was a time when I was a real-life worm assassin. The thing is, I didn’t know better. My college had the biggest, fattest worms I have ever seen. Every time it rained, the walkways were covered with them. You can well imagine that many got trampled and I hated that and spent a great deal of time trying to avoid causing a single worm such a tragic demise. One day, in particular, I was late for class and there were worms everywhere. It was raining so hard that the ground was a giant puddle. I started picking up worms and tossing them back in the grass. I became quite obsessive about it. Felt like I was doing something good for worm-kind. I actually missed my class that day because I was determined to move as many worms as possible.
Later, much later, I found out the sad truth. I wa sinquiring as to why earthwoms come out when it rains, ratherthan stay put and enjoy the wetness. It turns out that they come out to keep from drowning. When the ground it saturated, they can’t breathe. Who knew?
aw, little creature concern, i can totally relate. we live in a very snail-y area, and as careful as i try to be, sometimes i hear that heartbreaking crunch under my foot and my night is ruined.