Earthworms
By: Calder Martin
Did you know that earthworms have five hearts and each heart pumps blood to a different section of the earthworms body? They have very interesting features, life styles, and importance in our gardens.
An earthworm can have a boy or a girl. They can’t have both. If the earthworm is broken in two, the earthworm's head or tail can grow back although if they try to grow their head back they will often die. An earthworm has five hearts, each heart pumps blood to a different section of the body. They have microscopic hairs called Chaetae.
Warm, wet, these are two of the earthworm’s preferred habitats. Some earthworms burrow deep into the soil while others stay above ground. Earthworms hide behind rocks, logs, or rotting leaves. They will eat either a rotting vegetable or the remains of a dead animal. To help digest the food it eats small rocks or soil. The rocks or soil help crush the food in their stomach. An adult earthworm gives birth to multiple eggs and puts them in what’s called an earthworm cocoon. Adult earthworms do not take care of their young. Many of them die young in the wild. Some predators for the earthworms are birds, frogs, and snakes. Many humans use earthworms as fishing bait. Chaetea has the ability to grasp the earthworms burrow.
If you have earthworms in your garden you may have noticed that the vegetable plants ripen faster and taste juicier. This is because earthworms digest the dirt and make it richer!
Most would agree that earthworms have a fascinating lifestyle and many
interesting features, they also can make the soil in any garden rich. I hope that earthworms never go extinct.