Conservationists hunt elusive US earthworm

US conservationists have begun hunting a giant worm that spits at predators, lives in 15ft-deep burrows and has been spotted only a handful of times in the past 30 years.

By Tom Leonard in New York
Published: 6:49PM BST 27 Jul 2009

Armed with high voltage electric shockers to draw the giant Palouse earthworm from its lair, the team from the University of Idaho has begun scouring the American northwest.

However, the scientists, who have asked the Obama administration to give the species endangered status, admit that they know little about the elusive creatures.

The Palouse earthworm is reputed to smell of lilies when handled and grows up to three feet long. It is thought to inhabit rich soils of the Palouse - two million acres of rolling wheat fields near the Idaho-Washington border - but there have been only a handful of sightings.

The worms - known locally as GPE and, unlike the common earthworm, native to America - were said to be common in the 1890s but much of their natural prairie habitat of steep, silty dunes has since been turned into agricultural land, apparently causing their numbers to dwindle.

Documented discoveries of the worm have occurred only in 1978, 1988, 1990 and 2005. They were considered extinct four years ago but then one was accidentally dug up by an Idaho university student using a shovel to collect a soil sample.

That fat, milky white specimen, which is only six inches long, is the only example of the species in human hands.

The worm hunters, led by Prof Jodi Johnson-Maynard, will use three techniques to lure the animals out from their deep lairs.

One is simply to dig holes and sift the soil; another is to pour a solution of mustard and vinegar on to the ground, irritating the worms until they come to the surface; and the third involves using an "electro shocker" that can send up to 480 volts into the ground.

In a technique similar to that used to summon the gigantic sand worms in the science fiction film Dune, a series of three feet long metal rods are pushed into the earth in a small circle and then connected to batteries, hopefully drawing the worms to the surface.

Care is needed as the scientists admit that the voltage is sufficiently high to fry any specimens.

Farmers have reportedly never seen the worms but it may not be in their interests to report sightings if they are declared an endangered species.

Gary Budd, a grain elevator manager in Uniontown, compared the creatures to Elvis Presley. "He gets spotted once in a while, too," he said.

But another local man, Lee Matthews, has claimed to have seen odd worms occasionally on his property over the years. In 2007, he saw up to 16 inches of what he took to be a white snake sticking out of a clay bank he was widening.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/5918317/Conservationists-hunt-elusive-US-earthworm.html