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Dear Mike:
The horror, the horror...! Ulp, I hope you understand why this question is a bit hard for me to
answer, because what looks like a typical sign of springtime to you is a life-or-death struggle for
me! Brrrr...just thinking about it makes all my hairs stand on end and makes me wiggly with fright!
Which, come to think of it, explains how we worms can hold our own in a tug-of-war with a hungry bird.
See, a worm's body may look smooth and slimy, but it's really covered with tiny bristles.
Worms use special muscles to extend these bristles or pull them back into their bodies. To move
around, we retract these bristles into tiny sacs in our body walls. And to resist being yanked out
of the soil, we anchor ourselves in the ground by pushing our bristles into the dirt walls of our
burrows. (Of course, in a perfect world it would sure be great if robins picked on something their
own size!) But it does show that there's more to us humble earthmovers than meets the eye.
As much as I'm repulsed by robins, I must admit that these fearsome feathered foes have an
amazingly keen sense of hearing. When you see a robin standing perfectly still on your lawn with
its head cocked to one side, you can bet this bird is listening to earthworms moving underground,
ready to pounce! (So help even the odds for your wormy backyard buddies by keeping a nice big cat
on your property at all times!)
Signed,
Wendell
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