WilliamBoyd8
Active member
Searchers shovel Northwest dirt seeking giant worm
Saturday, July 11, 2009
The giant Palouse earthworm has taken on mythic qualities in this vast
agricultural region that stretches from eastern Washington into the Idaho
panhandle, its very name evoking the fictional sandworms from "Dune" or those
vicious creatures from the movie "Tremors".
The worm is said to secrete a lily-like smell when handled, spit at predators,
and live in burrows 15 feet deep. There have been only a handful of sightings.
But scientists hope to change that this summer with researchers scouring the
Palouse region in hopes of finding more of the giant earthworms.
The worm may be elusive, but there's no doubt it exists, said Jodi
Johnson-Maynard, a University of Idaho professor who is leading the search for
the worm. To prove it, she pulled out a glass tube containing the preserved
remains of a fat, milky-white worm. One of Johnson-Maynard's graduate students
found this specimen in 2005, and it is the only confirmed example of the
species.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
The giant Palouse earthworm has taken on mythic qualities in this vast
agricultural region that stretches from eastern Washington into the Idaho
panhandle, its very name evoking the fictional sandworms from "Dune" or those
vicious creatures from the movie "Tremors".
The worm is said to secrete a lily-like smell when handled, spit at predators,
and live in burrows 15 feet deep. There have been only a handful of sightings.
But scientists hope to change that this summer with researchers scouring the
Palouse region in hopes of finding more of the giant earthworms.
The worm may be elusive, but there's no doubt it exists, said Jodi
Johnson-Maynard, a University of Idaho professor who is leading the search for
the worm. To prove it, she pulled out a glass tube containing the preserved
remains of a fat, milky-white worm. One of Johnson-Maynard's graduate students
found this specimen in 2005, and it is the only confirmed example of the
species.
