EARTHWORM FACTS

EARTHWORM FACTS

1. The smallest earthworm is less than an inch

2. The largest earthworm ever found was in South Africa and measured 22 feet from its nose to the tip of its tail.

3. An earthworm has a brain, five hearts, and “breathes” through its skin

4. An earthworm produces its own weight in casts everyday

5. There are over 1 million earthworms in one acre of soil

6. Earthworms can burrow as deep as fifteen feet.

7. Earthworms are 82% protein and are a food source for many people around the world.

8. Eating earthworms can reduce cholesterol, as the basic essential oil of earthworms is Omega 3 fatty acids.

9. An earthworm can grow only so long.  A well-fed adult will depend on what kind of worm it is, how many segments it has, how old it is and how well fed it is.

10. A worm has no arms, legs or eyes.

11. There are approximately 2,700 different kinds of earthworms.

12. Worms live where there is food, moisture, oxygen and a favorable temperature.  If they don’t have these things, they go somewhere else.

13. In one acre of land, there can be more than a million earthworms.

14. Charles Darwin spent 39 years studying earthworms more than 100 years ago.

15. Worms are cold-blooded animals.

16. If a worm’s skin dries out, it will die.

17. Worms can eat their weight each day.

18. Fishermen use them as bait.

19. Earthworms are like farmers because they plow the soil.  Earthworms plow the soil by  continually  moving around in it creating channels where roots can grow.  Then as they create the channels, they mix the nutrients they produce with the soil to help make the top level of the soil more fertile.

20. Earthworms make plant nutrients by digesting food, yard, and garden waste along with  other items and grinding it all together in their gizzard.  After it is ground, it passes into the intestines and is broken down even further.

21. Earthworms don’t have teeth, yet they are still able to swallow food, yard, and garden waste along with other items.  This is really surprising since earthworms are able to eat their weight in food, yard, and garden waste each day.