Worms

I tend to do my yard work in stages (i.e - I'm lazy) so the pile of leaves and other plant matter that I had raked out of Charlie's yard a couple of weeks ago sat in the driveway and began to decompose quite nicely with all of the rain we've had recently. When I got around to picking that pile up yesterday there were probably 20 or more worms wriggling on the pavement.

(You know how sometimes after a rain shower there will be a bunch of dried up worms left on the sidewalk or other non porous surface? That grosses me out a little, but it also makes me sad. Worms cannot breathe without dirt. Or maybe more accurately, the moisture in the dirt.)

Anyway, I didn't want a bunch of crispy worms in the driveway, especially since their deaths would have been on my conscience. So for about 5 minutes I picked the worms up off the driveway -first with a stick, then with my fingers after I got over the heebie-jeebies - and placed them in a planter box full of potting soil.

Under one smaller pile I uncovered a family of four. There appeared to be 2 good sized parental units and 2 scrawny children. The mom and dad were laying as parallel lines, touching. I think I may have interrupted something, but my knowledge of worms is pretty limited. And I seem to remember some worms are asexual which means they can reproduce without a partner. But again, I am pretty new member of the Greater Knoxville Worm Rescue, I haven't had time to read all the handouts yet.