Have you ever seen soft mud or sand criss-crossed with lines? I’ve always been told that these lines are earthworm trails.
But I’ve never actually seen an earthworm in those places, so I took that little nature mystery solution with my characteristic dose of skepticism. This morning I did see, in fact, that it is indeed earthworm trails.
I am a skeptic at heart, no apologies. It’s just that I’m a very curious person, a citizen scientist of sorts after a career in science. I love to have proof of things. Proof positive. UFO’s and aliens are also on the list of things I’d like to have proof positive, haha, but that’s another matter entirely.
In this case, the curiosity wasn’t enough to spur me to do research on the explanation. I just accepted it, with a bit of background reservation that it might not be true.
However, this morning I did actually see an earthworm on this earthworm highway. Two of them, in fact. And now I feel confident that those lines are made by earthworms, for real. And it’s a good thing they don’t travel at high speeds, or there would surely be collisions! The lines intersect a lot.
Earthworm Trails
Mystery Solved
Do you have any nature mysteries you haven’t solved with proof positive certainty yet? Tracks in the mud are evidence that some critter passed that way. For many of them I can tell what they are and have enough certainty to not have to actually see the animal making them. But earthworm trails have always been a little curiosity I’ve observed.
We have fossilized tube worm tunnels around these parts, too. Those were much larger worms that burrowed in the sand. Locals call them ‘bear claw’ fossils, because the have a resemblance to a palm shape… sort of. In the case of fossils, I have to take the scientific research as proof, I suppose. There’s just no chance of going back in time to actually see these worms in action. Besides, it would likely be underwater anyway. But I’m happy enough to see the earthworms this morning in action on the wet sand, and know that it is without a doubt the solution to those strange lines.
ABOUT
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Roxann Riedel is a salesperson for Montgomery Whiteley Realty, artist, owner of the only ginseng nursery in Arkansas, and the author of books and this website. Madison Woods is the pen-name she uses for her creative works. She’s a self-taught artist who moved to the Ozarks from south Louisiana in 2005. Her paintings of the Ozark-inspired scenes feature lightfast pigments from Madison county, Arkansas. Her inspiration is nature – the beauty, and the inherent cycle of life and death, destruction and regeneration. Wild Ozark is also the only licensed ginseng nursery in Arkansas. Here’s the link for more information on the nursery
There’s always a discount for paintings on the easel 😉
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Contact Mad Rox: (479) 409-3429 or madison@madisonwoods and let me know which hat I need to put on 🙂 Madison for art, Roxann for real estate, lol. Or call me Mad Rox and have them both covered!
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