DD1 and I swapped some specimens a the PB III conference. Now I'm wondering what I brought home with me.

This white-topped plastic container was on the moderator's table and was full of worms.



When the worms are exposed to light, they act like they've either had way too much caffeine, or they are on an electrical grid. They really jump around. Other than that, they just look like plain old earthworms -- except highly animated and agitated.

Dave calls them Texas Jumping Worms. Neither of us can find any reliable reference to them on the Internet. Does anybody know what their scientific name, or even their common name might be?

I'm hoping to propagate them. If nothing else, they sure are fun to watch.

Thanks,
Ken

I don't know the name just that they were jumping out of the container and all over the mods table. Glad they went home with you and were not loose all over Big Cedar.

Internet sites show both Alabama Jumpers and Georgia Jumpers but but they seem pretty subdued compared to these. I've seen them jump 3 or 4 inches high and land 8 inches away. I just found them this year so have very little knowledge and history with them.

Hey Dave maybe you can corner the market on this species, you could call them Texas Kangaroo Crawlers.

I would first have to train those suckers to crawl. I wish I had a video camera. The darn things are amazing to watch.

I saw the worms and I can personally vouch for the fact that they were quite jumpy. It is my opinion that DD1 raises his worms on a diet of Red Bull and Crack.

DD1 reminded me of something I told him. If you are searching for worm information on the Internet, make sure you've got good virus protection. Many of the worm sites are loaded with nasties that make my virus protection go zonkers.