By Chad Love

Scientists in Idaho have captured a rare giant earthworm that allegedly smells like a lilly. No, really. That's what it says...
 
From the story on NPR:
The giant Palouse earthworm, a big white worm native to the Palouse prairie region of Idaho and Washington state, was said to be abundant in the late 19th century -- then seemed to disappear. Some people thought they never existed to begin with. But now, researchers are digging them up again...

Last month, Karl Umiker, a support scientist at the University of Idaho, was out on an unplowed fragment of prairie hunting the "big one" with a graduate student. There hadn't been a confirmed sighting of the worm since 2005, but Umiker had a new tool at his disposal. He calls it an "electroshocker." After jolting the soil a couple of times, Umiker dug around, and suddenly there it was. The worm was captured and is now sitting in a freezer at the University of Kansas, where it was positively identified. But Umiker can't say how big this prairie giant is. "The problem with earthworm stories is that they get longer and longer, and you can always stretch an earthworm," he says. That's "under the normal conditions -- without stretching it -- close to 20 centimeters." That's about 8 inches. Soil ecologist Jodi Johnson-Maynard, who heads the project, backpedals from the whole "giant" thing. "There are reportings of a meterlong earthworm, 3 feet long, but I haven't seen that," she says. "Now, possibly if one of these guys lives a long time, but I think most common might be a foot or a little bit less."

Still, it's clear these aren't your average night crawlers... "What you read in the literature is that they have a lily-like odor to them," Johnson-Maynard says. At least, that's what someone reported years ago. The worm is so rare, it's hard to separate myth from reality.

This may be a potential game-changer in the  world of live bait. Who wouldn't want pre-scented and pre-colored live nightcrawlers? Being white, you could dye them any color you choose, and since they smell like flowers your wife and kids won't be as reluctant to bait their own hooks...

Comments (15)

from ejunk wrote 2 years 4 weeks ago

pretty neat!

I'm no expert - I haven't fished with bait in a long time - but when I did, I always caught more fish with those tiny little worms you can buy for your compost than I did with those giant nightcrawlers.

yrs-
Evan!

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from MLH wrote 2 years 4 weeks ago

Giant mythical earthworm "captured" - wouldn't it be ironic if this was the last survivor of the species, full of eggs, now forever preserved in alcohol?

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from seadog wrote 2 years 4 weeks ago

Smells like a lilly--maybe I could get my wife to bait her own hooks. LMAO--note to self--get real, seadog--that ain't never gonna happen!

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from gman3186 wrote 2 years 4 weeks ago

we see foot long night crawlers in our front yard all the time. all you need to do is wait for night fall and have a flash light and a quick hand to catch them

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from jakenbake wrote 2 years 4 weeks ago

Aren't we stretching the definition of "giant" if we're qualifying 8-inch worms as such? The worms you get from the bait shop are pretty close to that aren't they?

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from JOHN ANDERSON wrote 2 years 4 weeks ago

That could explain our robins with hernias out break this spring.LOL.If it dont freeze to death in kansas itd make a great congressmen.LOL,

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from buckhunter wrote 2 years 4 weeks ago

Sorry. The only thing that comes to mind is Kevin Bacon being chased through the desert by one of these things.

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from huntnfishnut wrote 2 years 4 weeks ago

Like MLH said... So they catch the only specimen of something they haven't seen in 5 years and they freeze it??

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from stick500 wrote 2 years 4 weeks ago

I didn't even realize until just a couple years ago that the popular nightcrawler we all use is an invasive species in North America! They've actually harmed the fauna of forest floors with all their digging near the surface.

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from pbshooter1217 wrote 2 years 3 weeks ago

Ever see the movie Tremors?

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from fishy man wrote 2 years 3 weeks ago

seems kinda wierd to me, but either way thats a big worm.

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from bighunter wrote 2 years 3 weeks ago

in africa the bourlo earthworm can get 6 feet in length and 4 inches around

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from jamesti wrote 2 years 3 weeks ago

what was the point of freezing it? can't you study something while it's alive? where are the pics?

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from WoodyInWA wrote 2 years 4 days ago

Don't get too excited about fishing with this rare white worm...I am quite certain the animal rights activists are pushing through paperwork as we type to get this worm on the endangered species list.

I live in Washington. I'm going on a worm hunt to see if I can locate any big white ones. We have huge night crawlers in the garden all the time though.

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from WoodyInWA wrote 2 years 4 days ago

For the curious...more info. and a photograph of the Palouse earthworm is found at Wikipedia.

Click here to see it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_Palouse_earthworm

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from MLH wrote 2 years 4 weeks ago

Giant mythical earthworm "captured" - wouldn't it be ironic if this was the last survivor of the species, full of eggs, now forever preserved in alcohol?

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from buckhunter wrote 2 years 4 weeks ago

Sorry. The only thing that comes to mind is Kevin Bacon being chased through the desert by one of these things.

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from ejunk wrote 2 years 4 weeks ago

pretty neat!

I'm no expert - I haven't fished with bait in a long time - but when I did, I always caught more fish with those tiny little worms you can buy for your compost than I did with those giant nightcrawlers.

yrs-
Evan!

+1 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from seadog wrote 2 years 4 weeks ago

Smells like a lilly--maybe I could get my wife to bait her own hooks. LMAO--note to self--get real, seadog--that ain't never gonna happen!

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from WoodyInWA wrote 2 years 4 days ago

For the curious...more info. and a photograph of the Palouse earthworm is found at Wikipedia.

Click here to see it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_Palouse_earthworm

+1 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from gman3186 wrote 2 years 4 weeks ago

we see foot long night crawlers in our front yard all the time. all you need to do is wait for night fall and have a flash light and a quick hand to catch them

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from jakenbake wrote 2 years 4 weeks ago

Aren't we stretching the definition of "giant" if we're qualifying 8-inch worms as such? The worms you get from the bait shop are pretty close to that aren't they?

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from JOHN ANDERSON wrote 2 years 4 weeks ago

That could explain our robins with hernias out break this spring.LOL.If it dont freeze to death in kansas itd make a great congressmen.LOL,

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from huntnfishnut wrote 2 years 4 weeks ago

Like MLH said... So they catch the only specimen of something they haven't seen in 5 years and they freeze it??

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from stick500 wrote 2 years 4 weeks ago

I didn't even realize until just a couple years ago that the popular nightcrawler we all use is an invasive species in North America! They've actually harmed the fauna of forest floors with all their digging near the surface.

0 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from pbshooter1217 wrote 2 years 3 weeks ago

Ever see the movie Tremors?

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from fishy man wrote 2 years 3 weeks ago

seems kinda wierd to me, but either way thats a big worm.

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from bighunter wrote 2 years 3 weeks ago

in africa the bourlo earthworm can get 6 feet in length and 4 inches around

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from jamesti wrote 2 years 3 weeks ago

what was the point of freezing it? can't you study something while it's alive? where are the pics?

0 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from WoodyInWA wrote 2 years 4 days ago

Don't get too excited about fishing with this rare white worm...I am quite certain the animal rights activists are pushing through paperwork as we type to get this worm on the endangered species list.

I live in Washington. I'm going on a worm hunt to see if I can locate any big white ones. We have huge night crawlers in the garden all the time though.

0 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

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All submitted comments are subject to the rules set forth in our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.