Worms are sickly looking, all pink and squishy, unsightly. But the long, dark headed night crawler is in a class of its own. There's something about their fortitude, the utter determination to get somewhere. Stretch and contract; lengthen and pull up their hiney in one fell swoop. Constantly on the move. I yield to the night crawler.
Maybe it's because as a child my father would give us a penny for every one we captured. He sold the creatures as fishing bait at his mom & pop store. There was something exciting, going out on a dark and dewy summer night with flashlight in hand. I'd look for the "nighties" laying on the grass. It took a quick hand to swipe the slimy buggers before they madly retreated into the ground, but we were youngsters on a mission. I was pretty good at it too, earning up to 25 pennies at a time.
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| This determined night crawler moved 12" by the time I was done photographing. |
If you see me wavering on the asphalt, please give me a wide berth. It could be I've lost my balance or maybe I'm dodging the low life, giving the night crawler one last chance.
Thursday and Friday of this week we had 3-4 inches of rain locally. I heard on NPR this morning that it was one of the wettest storm systems ever recorded in May in Minnesota.
ReplyDeleteIt also brought out the night crawlers. So many it was impossible to dodge them all. The air even smelled like crushed night crawlers on the road. The insides of my fenders were smeared with them. I tried to dodge them, but if I let my mind wander for even a second.......
I guess this was a timely post for you. Sorry there was so much rain. It sounds like the night crawlers were a disgusting nuisance for you. I can't imagine what it's like to clean that much gooey residue from the fenders - yuck!
DeleteI meant "Wednesday and Thursday".
DeleteI'm the same with snails. It's the crunch of crushing shell that I'll do anything to avoid. (Or even worse when they're such babies their shell doesn't crunch).
ReplyDelete