Is the Giant Spitting Earthworm Expanding?
Before this year, the intriguing and imperiled giant Palouse earthworm had only been sighted once in nearly two decades, and it was only known from the Palouse prairie in southeastern Washington, west central Idaho, and northeastern Oregon. But in March, researchers near Moscow, Idaho found — and accidentally killed — what appears to be one of the giant worms. The worms can reach up to three feet in length and spit lilac-scented mucous. Even more surprising was this year’s second sighting, made on a forested slope in central Washington by a Seattleite who at first took the worm for a snake. If the newly found worm specimens are indeed of the giant Palouse clan, that means it’s not too late to save the species, whose historic habitat has been almost entirely obliterated by agriculture and development. The Center for Biological Diversity and allies filed suit in January to protect the worm under the Endangered Species Act. Learn more in the Seattle Times.
