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Dateline: Dirt with Eddie the Earthworm
Wendell: We're here doing a worm in the dirt interview with Eddie the Earthworm. Eddie,
what do you want to say to the folks at home today?
Eddie: Wendell, we worms have gotten a bum rap. We don't get no respect. So what if
we're slimey? Our mucous keeps us moist -- so we can breathe through our skin! So what if we eat
leaves and dirt -- that's our hamburger and fries! Does that give people the right to call us
yucky? OR to scream when they see us?
It Ain't Fair
Why do people call us the "lowly" worm? We've been around for 120 million years. In the time
of the Egyptian Pharoahs, Cleopatra said we were sacred. That Greek Aristotle called us "the
intestines" of the soil. The scientist Charles Darwin studied us for 39 years in the last century!
Do you know why? Darwin said, "It may be doubted whether there are many other animals in the world
which have played so important a part in the history of the world...."
Wendell: Eddie, enough speech-making. Take a deep breath and tell the people exactly
what we earthworms DO do!
It's a Dirty Job
Eddie: We're underground farmers who turn the soil over like a plough. In just one acre
there can be a million or more of us, eating 10 tons of leaves, stems, and dead roots a year and
turning over 40 tons of soil. Imagine us all over the world -- billions and billions of earthworms,
tunneling through soil, chewing up fallen leaves and animal remains, pushing heavy stones. And
don't forget pooping! Our poop, called castings, contains the recycled nutrients from the debris we
ate. Our tunnels add air and our poop fertilizer. We change the dirt under human's feet!
Wendell: Is this dangerous work, Eddie?
Eddie: You bet it is, Wendell. We worms face possible death or mutilation every step of
the way. You can only imagine what we go through every day dodging bird beaks, garden forks and
stabbing fish hooks. And moles? Don't get me started? They eat three times their weight every day.
Shrews? They're even worse! They have to eat every hour. Know what one of their favorite foods is?
Us!!! No wonder the majority of us probably don't make it much past a year! Worms, we don't get no respect!
Earthworms Near the Equator
Wendell: Eddie, who's that big guy crawling across the road towards us?
Eddie: Oh, he's Espinal, my Latin cousin. He just crawled in from Ecuador to escape the
humidity. He's big, but I'm afraid he's very shy.
Wendell: Your cousin is huge!
Eddie: Yep. He's 8 feet long, 3/4 of an inch in diameter and weighs over a pound. They
grow earthworms big in South American for sure!
Meet Niles the Nightcrawler
Wendell: I notice you have another friend with you. I'm sure he won't be so shy. Hi,
Niles, haven't seen you in a while. Folks, meet Niles the Nightcrawler, another earthworm cousin.
Niles: Nice to have the opportunity to tell my story.
Wendell: How are you different from me, for example?
Niles: Simple. You live near the top. I dig deep. You dig horizontal tunnels, I dig
vertical tunnels that can go six feet into the ground. You're short, I'm a foot long. And I can
live to age 5 or 10. Who knows how long you can live.
Wendell: Thanks, Niles... Anything else?
Niles: When I'm hungry, I don't need to leave my hole entirely to find leaves or dead
grass. At night, I keep my tail in my tunnel and I reach out and bob back and forth, back and
forth, looking for something to grab. Heaven help anything that tries to get me because I'll hold
on to the walls of my tunnel for dear life. When I see something delicious, like a leaf, I pull it
back down with me -- small end first so that it fits easily. And then I feast. At night, you can
hear us rustling dead leaves as we search for our dinner.
Wendell: Niles, tell the people what you're famous for.
Niles: Fish bait. But I'd rather not talk about that. And anyway, people also use red wrigglers.
Wendell: Thanks, guys. This is Wendell Worm reporting.
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