What on earth? Worms as big as a snake turn up in British Isles
EARTHWORMS the size of a baby snake – and weighing as much as a small mouse – have been discovered on the Isle of Rum, off Scotland.
Scientists working there have found the biggest specimens ever seen in the UK, more than three times the length and weight of a normal worm.
Some are 16in long, the size of a newly-hatched adder, having blossomed due to the rich soil on the Inner Hebrides and a lack of predators.
Dr Kevin Butt, lead researcher on the earthworm study by the University of Central Lancashire, said: “These things weigh about twelve and a half grams – but the normal size for these things is about four to five grams.”
The worms, Lumbricus terrestris, were found at Papadil, an abandoned settlement on Rum. “When these things came out of their burrows they were like small snakes,” he said. To study the worms, the scientists flush them out with a slight irritant solution before washing them clean.
Dr Butt said Rum’s 30 inhabitants were not aware of the giant worms “until we told them” but as many of them share his interest in science and nature “they were quite excited”.
He said that far from being nightmarish, the giant worms were “a delight” to discover as they are crucial to the ecosystem, and help reduce the risk of floods: “Without their activities we’d be a lot worse off. They’re just as important as bees are in pollinating plants. They help aerate the soil and drain away water and stop surface erosion.”
He said the worms have an undisturbed habitat and good soil. Rum lacks predators such as badgers, moles, hedgehogs and foxes. Unlike most animals, earthworms keep growing if undisturbed. Dr Butt, who has been studying worms for 30 years, said: “These things have just have been left and have grown bigger and bigger.”
He said there is little to fear: “If [the worms] feel footsteps they will just go down deeper into the earth. They’re not going to jump out and grab people.” The discovery was published in The Glasgow Naturalist journal.