Invasive hammerhead worms

[Patchouli]

Anyone here heard of these or come across them? They can now be found in several states. A quick search can net quite a few articles. Now even found in Dallas and Temple, Texas, and Georgia.
Don't chop them up, each piece can reproduce. They eat our lovely earthworms. They can cause pets to become ill, you can get a rash if you touch them.
https://www.bobvila.com/articles/hammerhead-worm/

 

[SoJer]

..Don't chop them up, each piece can reproduce.

Oh, I'm sure there's a 'Limit to that'...

..yah. 'it'll Blend'..

Creepy-lookin tho, and.. '8" up to 15"?? Yeek, that's skinny Garter-snake size..

jd

 

[Bacpacker]

Pour some tequila in there and see who'll eat the worm!!

 

[Patchouli]

Oh, I'm sure there's a 'Limit to that'...
..yah. 'it'll Blend'..

Creepy-lookin tho, and.. '8" up to 15"?? Yeek, that's skinny Garter-snake size..

jd

You give it a try, let me know. The person who mentioned these in an online class said you could freeze them for 48 hours and that should kill them too. But I wonder if he tried it.
@Bacpacker no way. Besides, isn't that an agave grub? Not that I would know.

 

[dademoss]

"I love the smell of Napalm in the morning"

 

[Patchouli]

@dademoss they're such vile creatures, they'd probably live through that too. "They only come out at night." I think I'd rather put them in a bucket of...I was going to say gas...vinegar! But bombing might work. But then you'd be killing everything else too. Some of the articles I read indicate they lay many many eggs and can reproduce without the opposite sex, or as asexual. Also now found in Iowa, @Spikedriver

 

[Supervisor42]

@dademoss they're such vile creatures, they'd probably live through that too. "They only come out at night." I think I'd rather put them in a bucket of...I was going to say gas...vinegar! But bombing might work. But then you'd be killing everything else too. Some of the articles I read indicate they lay many many eggs and can reproduce without the opposite sex, or as asexual. Also now found in Iowa, @Spikedriver

Waita minute! Didn't we import the murder-hornets to take care of those?
I jest.
So, big as a snake and lots of them? Hmmm.
I can tell you what the local response would be...
Some Cajun would say: "Gumbo is ready!"

 

[Patchouli]

@Supervisor42 On Dave's Gardening website I found a long list of everywhere they've been FOUND in the U.S. This is not good, but like everything that invades, it continues on. I wonder what happens if our small critters invade another country. Do ours take over?

 

[Supervisor42]

@Supervisor42 On Dave's Gardening website I found a long list of everywhere they've been FOUND in the U.S. This is not good, but like everything that invades, it continues on. I wonder what happens if our small critters invade another country. Do ours take over?

Alligators are a dangerous invasive species..... where they are still protected.
We put them on the restaurant menus down here and their numbers plunged.
(They taste fantastic fried!)
Today they have to have a tag for every gator taken down here or we will eat them all.
Same thing with the famous Florida python invasion. They had to protect them too because a lot of folks said: "We can make fantastic boots out of those! Let us take care of them".
Now fireants... you need a good flood every few years to take care of those.

 

[Patchouli]

I don't know about flooding taking care of the ants, @Supervisor42 ! I've seen ant rafts flowing along in runoff flooding. They hook dems lil' arms together and I can hear them even now, like in a nightmare, singing their conqueror songs. From national geographic:

 

[Supervisor42]

I don't know about flooding taking care of the ants, @Supervisor42 ! I've seen ant rafts flowing along in runoff flooding. They hook dems lil' arms together and I can hear them even now, like in a nightmare, singing their conqueror songs. From national geographic:
View attachment 82649

No, it knocks them in the dirt(pun).
The only ones you see on the 'life-rafts' are the few that just happen to be topside. The queen and her keepers are always in the bottom of the mound tending to eggs and they drown.
Fireants were 10x worse in Bama (ask @Peanut ) and conditions are much more favorable down here with soft soil and no hard freezes...if it wasn't for those dang floods.

 

[Terri9630]

No, it knocks them in the dirt(pun).
The only ones you see on the 'life-rafts' are the few that just happen to be topside. The queen and her keepers are always in the bottom of the mound tending to eggs and they drown.
Fireants were 10x worse in Bama (ask @Peanut ) and conditions are much more favorable down here with soft soil and no hard freezes...if it wasn't for those dang floods.

They take the eggs and larvae with them. If you hit one of those floating mounds you'll see them. A flash flood might get some but the ants are smart.

https://www.iaff.org › wp-content › uploads › 2019 › 05 › Fire-Ants.pdf
Fire Ants . August 2018 . When there is flooding, it is common to spot clusters of fire ants floating through flood waters. This common phenomenon occurs as ants attempt to protect their queen, eggs, larvae and pupae by forming a mass around them. When floodwaters push fire ants from their anthills, they can cling together to


https://www.jacksonville.com/story/...-beware-floating-fire-ant-mounds/15760502007/

 

[Peanut]

I haven't seen any worms like those, least now I know if I do.

Fought fire ants for 20yrs, looks like they'll out last me.

 

[Supervisor42]

They take the eggs and larvae with them. If you hit one of those floating mounds you'll see them. A flash flood might get some but the ants are smart.

https://www.iaff.org › wp-content › uploads › 2019 › 05 › Fire-Ants.pdf
Fire Ants . August 2018 . When there is flooding, it is common to spot clusters of fire ants floating through flood waters. This common phenomenon occurs as ants attempt to protect their queen, eggs, larvae and pupae by forming a mass around them. When floodwaters push fire ants from their anthills, they can cling together to


https://www.jacksonville.com/story/...-beware-floating-fire-ant-mounds/15760502007/

We must not have the intelligent ants down here. Same size backyard, 1/10 the ants we had in Bama.
Only difference is, sometimes it looks like this down here. You decide:

 

[Spikedriver]

@dademoss they're such vile creatures, they'd probably live through that too. "They only come out at night." I think I'd rather put them in a bucket of...I was going to say gas...vinegar! But bombing might work. But then you'd be killing everything else too. Some of the articles I read indicate they lay many many eggs and can reproduce without the opposite sex, or as asexual. Also now found in Iowa, @Spikedriver

I'm not worried. Our earthworms are pretty tough here. Like little slimy ninjas. They'll handle it...

 

[Terri9630]

We must not have the intelligent ants down here. Same size backyard, 1/10 the ants we had in Bama.
Only difference is, sometimes it looks like this down here. You decide:
View attachment 82652

I said they were smart, unlike people they know better than to build in flood zones.

 

[Patchouli]

They have learned how to band together when it does flood, that is their smartness.