Worms Eat Your Garbage
Quick Worm Facts
- There are approximately 2,700 different kinds of earthworms.
- Worms live where there is food, moisture, oxygen and
a favorable temperature. If they don't have these things, they go somewhere else.
- The largest earthworm ever found was in South Africa
and measured 22 feet from its nose to the tip of its tail.
- A worm has no arms, legs or eyes.
- Worms are cold-blooded animals.
- Baby worms are not born. They hatch from cocoons smaller
than a grain of rice.
- Even though worms don't have eyes, they can sense light,
especially at their anterior (front end). They move away from light and will become
paralyzed if exposed to light for too long (approximately one hour).
- If a worms skin dries out, it will die.
- Worms can eat their weight in garbage each day.
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What do we do?
Without our help, every plant and animal that died
and fell to the ground would stay right where it fell. Trees, leaves, fruit, nuts,
dead animals and food would just keep piling up until you were buried in it! But
instead, worms and other decomposers break down all this refuge. All those trees
and leaves become rich soil for new seedlings to grow. And the cycle starts all
over again!
You can think of us as underground farmers. We turn
the soil over like a plough. In just one acre there can be a million or more of
us, eating 10 tonnes of leaves, stems and dead roots a year and turning over 40
tonnes of soil! Imagine us all over the world billions and billions of worms, tunneling
through soil, chewing up fallen leaves and animal remains, pushing heavy stones.
And lets not forget pooping! That's right! Our poop, called castings, contains the
recycled nutrients from the debris we ate. Our tunnels add air and our poop creates
fertilizer. We change the dirt right under your feet!
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