Agriculture Department Warns of Invasive Earthworms

(KNSI) — The Minnesota Department of Agriculture is warning gardeners to be on the lookout for an invasive earthworm that has sprung up around the Upper Midwest.

Jumping worms, also known as crazy worms or Alabama jumpers, are called that due to their violent thrashing when disturbed. The worms live and feed in the leaf litter layer on the soil surface and the top few inches of the soil. The cocoon stage for the worms starts in the winter, and those cocoons are hatching right about now as people get into their yards and gardens for the season.

University of Wisconsin Ecologist Brad Herrick says they don’t have legs, so they’re not really jumping, but they can really flop around a lot and try and snake away from you. They have the ability to drop parts of their tail to escape predation, which just adds to their creepy factor.”

The worms are about four to eight inches long and have glossy skin.

Herrick says you’ll know if you have an infestation of jumping worms because the worms change the soil structure, “from just what you think of a common soil is to very granular. We think of it as a coffee ground look, or some people think of it as like taco meat.”

Herrick says it’s crucial to stop the spread of jumping worms because they strip nutrients from topsoil.

“If you were to move to someone else’s yard to do gardening, or move to a community garden, or go for a walk in the forest, make sure that your shoes are clean, you’ve brushed them off, get rid of all the soil. Make sure all of your tools are clean. Arrive clean, leave clean.”

To learn more about how else you can stop the spread of jumping worms, click here.

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