Remember when there were thousands of worms on the streets and sidewalks after a big rainstorm

I grew up in a big city and lived for a long time in a nice suburb, and I remember worms. Thousands of worms on the streets and sidewalks after a big rainstorm. You couldn't walk on the sidewalks without stepping on some, no matter how hard you tried. I haven't seen anything like that in many years. Nothing even close, almost no worms at all in fact.

After it rained they'd also be popping themselves out of the ground, and as mean kids we'd grab some out, but never hurt them intentionally.

And remember nighthawks? The small birds that flocked around streetlights catching bugs? Haven't seen them do that in many years.

And something everyone can relate to. When you left lights on at night, with a screen door open, dozens of moths and beetles and other things would land on the screen or on the porch. And Junebugs, there used to be Junebugs. Not for a long time.

Does this relate with anyone else? Nothing to do about it, except to say that things like these keep getting less and less, and I'm not ancient although out of my twenties. So you teens, take note of the butterflies, and the snakes (well, there are almost no more snakes and frogs, at least as common as prairieland. What? Never mind). They may not come this way again.

Depends on how close to a city you live and how dense the population is. Loss of habitat takes a huge toll on nature.

I can attest to being in the Louisiana swamps recently for a few months and there having been no shortage of bugs, snakes, frogs, or worms. They may not be by you, but they are not gone from everywhere.

Yup, I've been noticing the lack of worms too, but it may be because I've moved to a drier summer climate.

In my childhood home (50-60s) we were only 1/10 of a mile away from the city line in Rochester, NY but it was all open, rapidly building up during my elementary school years. The summers were punctuated by the sounds of all the houses near us being built. It was nothing to see peasants, deer, garter snakes, fox and smell the occasional skunk when I was young; later on almost none at all. Even saw a magnificent luna moth once!

I think we've lost a lot that anyone younger would never even know to miss. Definitely far fewer bees and beneficial insects, along with the birds that eat them.

I dont know where you live, but the bugs and worms and birds are still seen where Im at during the warmer months. Slugs too. I havent seen a difference. Im only in my 30s though.

reply to post by Aleister


You must live in the south. Since we have had the "guests" of fire ants, hardly anything that lived in the soil is there now. They attack and eat everything even yellow jackets. Its hard to find a nest of jackets now to get the drone cake for bream fishing.

In my neck of the woods we've seen no worms for years due to the drought. There also used to be a sizeable bat population and that took a dive as well.

reply to post by Aleister


The little critters aren't missing here...last week's warmup saw a few worms popping up out of the ground in the more protected areas where the freeze level was shallow. While there has been some noticable reduction in some of the area beehives there is no shortage of other native bees/wasps/flies, or the birds that prey on them...but then, I'm in "corn country"...

Originally posted by NightFlight
reply to post by Aleister

 

You must live in the south. Since we have had the "guests" of fire ants, hardly anything that lived in the soil is there now. They attack and eat everything even yellow jackets. Its hard to find a nest of jackets now to get the drone cake for bream fishing.

Lived in a city that was already built up, no construction going on to change the balance of nature in that way. Ah, the fire ants. I noticed that they all build their hills on the same sides of the trees, so squirrels and other animals (such as humans and dogs) know exactly where their nests form. Is it confirmed that fire ants are the cause of so many missing worms and yellow jackets in your area?

No change in worms or junebugs in my part of MD. What we are missing is wild honeybees for decades now. But that's old news. I think last summer there were fewer bumble bees, too, than in previous years. But I have more carpenter bees than I know what to do with.

I had no idea the fire ants were that voracious and rapacious. What horror. I dread them making their way this far up north. I will pack up and move to the real northern region of the US to flee those nasty creatures. If its a choice between freezing my butt off a good chunk of the year or getting swarmed by fire ants, I'm choosing the cold.

We had fewer Asian stink bugs since hurricane Irene supposedly blew them to perdition. But they seem to be making a comeback the past few weeks.

However my observations are not really contributing to the thread. It's just idle chit chat. I've a feeling you are concerned something significant happened to cause this loss of worms. So what could be causing it? I don't know if simple development would do it. I've toured new construction sites and noted plenty of worms.

Could it be pesticides or weed control products not in use before but popular now taking a toll? GMOs? If that were the case though, I should be seeing fewer worms, too.

Do you have wind farms or turbines in your region? Worms hate and flee vibration. In fact that is how I used to drive them up and catch them for bait. I'd take a screwdriver and stick it in the ground and shake it to create vibration.

Its because of the way we have been farming the past hundred years. WE have depleted the soils of nutrients dumped tons of petroleum based fertilizers on it and pesticides. Plant huge mono-cultures of crops many of them GMO and the micro organisms that keep the soil alive and vibrant that depend of the diversity of plants and bugs can't live in the soils anymore. We do the same in the suburbs with our lawns and yards and now the worms are starting the disappear along with the bees and all the bugs that live in balance with each other. That is why we get plagues of bugs at certain times or invasive plants etc. it happens when things are out of balance.

I do not know what will happen first economic collapse or catastrophic crop failures and famine.... Famine is probable far more serious. We have to change the way we farm but few have a clue much less will consider changing... This is the farm of the future: www.abovetopsecret.com...

reply to post by hawkiye


Well see, that's what I was pondering too. But we've had that sort of thing going on where I live for about thirty years now and with crazy perfect lawn obsessions in the parts of farmland that turned into suburbia, it's been going on at least fifteen years. So I should be seeing a noticeable shortage of worms, too, and the farmers we have left should be making enough noise about it to make the local press. But I've not seen anything like that. Worms, worms, get your fat juicy garden worms here! There are still loads of worm carcasses after it rains. Just as there were when I was a kid. So something else might be at play that we could be overlooking and need to throw down for consideration. The problem is, the causes across different regions may not be the same even though the problem of a worm shortage is the same.

We do still have birds and lots of bats taking insects on the wing around sunset, despite the chemical bath we idiots are giving our land (where I live). What we don't have that I notice going up around the rest of the country in droves is wind turbines or wind farms. There might be some in parts of MD but not my part of it. Real estate is too dear to give up for that purpose.

Originally posted by SheeplFlavoredAgain
reply to post by hawkiye

 

Well see, that's what I was pondering too. But we've had that sort of thing going on where I live for about thirty years now and with crazy perfect lawn obsessions in the parts of farmland that turned into suburbia, it's been going on at least fifteen years. So I should be seeing a noticeable shortage of worms, too, and the farmers we have left should be making enough noise about it to make the local press. But I've not seen anything like that. Worms, worms, get your fat juicy garden worms here! There are still loads of worm carcasses after it rains. Just as there were when I was a kid. So something else might be at play that we could be overlooking and need to throw down for consideration. The problem is, the causes across different regions may not be the same even though the problem of a worm shortage is the same.

We do still have birds and lots of bats taking insects on the wing around sunset, despite the chemical bath we idiots are giving our land.

edit on 4-2-2013 by SheeplFlavoredAgain because: (no reason given)

If there is enough diversity of plants and natural mulch being left on the soil then the worms will be ok it depends on the area.The suburbs are not as bad as the farms because they still have some diversity. However you go to these fields on the farms that mono culture fertilize and pesticide them every year and then strip them bare for the winter you'll be lucky to find a worm.

Another thought...any new military installations growing in the affected region, particularly where there is testing of new kinds of aircraft? I know for some reason military air traffic has increased over my area and the rumbling and shaking is annoying. Some members who live near the bases describe some deep bass rumbling engine tests taking place on a pretty regular basis. Could that shake away some vibrating sensitive wildlife?

There could also be some tunneling around a military installation. Not the elite tinfoil hat kind of bunker building drilling some people here like to speculate about, mind you, but standard long term enlargement of normal underground facilities one would hope our country would build as a safeguard against possible foreign attack someday. Tunneling of that kind with known equipment is a slow process, isn't it? You don't just drill a hole like a fox digging out a den and call it a day. Maybe over time it's shaken some of the worms and other insects to more peaceful places to settle.

And that is it for tonight as my brain cells shut down for the night. It's nice to be back here for a visit again. I missed this site. But it's always good to take a break as well as give everyone else a break from me!

I'm in South Central West Virginia is a small town in the mountains and we still get moths and other bugs that flock to lights at night. Trust me, it's a pain in the butt to walk out our back door at night because you have to go through a good wave of them. And some of those suckers are BIG.

Originally posted by CrashUnderride
I'm in South Central West Virginia is a small town in the mountains and we still get moths and other bugs that flock to lights at night. Trust me, it's a pain in the butt to walk out our back door at night because you have to go through a good wave of them. And some of those suckers are BIG.

Try a yellow bug light bulb it helps cut down on them from my experience.

reply to post by hawkiye

What you say seems plausible. But does the act of farming itself with the constant turning and tilling of the soil chase off worms, too? Maybe the modern machines make too much vibration or it is done on a schedule hat doesn't give the worms a chance to return and regroup? I don't mean to keep harping on vibration. It is just that all my life spent digging up bait worms or spending time gardening with my mom and now my daughter, I've come to notice the worms seem uber sensitive to people mucking about in the soil, causing vibrations.

reply to post by Aleister


where I live in the city theres birds, bugs, worms, bees and the occasional bat, there was even a deer family this summer but I live closer to the edge of the city and theres a small patch of forest they left there for a park so thats probably why I see all that. though ive never seen a night hawk in my life they look nice and i hope to see one some day

Originally posted by SheeplFlavoredAgain
reply to post by hawkiye

 

What you say seems plausible. But does the act of farming itself with the constant turning and tilling of the soil chase off worms, too? Maybe the modern machines make too much vibration or it is done on a schedule hat doesn't give the worms a chance to return and regroup? I don't mean to keep harping on vibration. It is just that all my life spent digging up bait worms or spending time gardening with my mom and now my daughter, I've come to notice the worms seem uber sensitive to people mucking about in the soil, causing vibrations.

Oh am sure that is a contributing factor too. The soil in those bare fields don't have any humas in them they don't even look right...

Let them go. Earth worms are not native to North America and are dispersed by fisherman who use worms and who do not dispose of their bait responsibly. They radically change the fauna of native lands. Earthworms propagate on their own at about ten meters a year and are slowly but surely dispersing over the continent.

From my experience and observation, as "progress" and "civilization" advances, the smaller organisms disappear first, followed by the larger organisms that depended on the smaller ones to eat/live on them or their (by)-products.

Usually this is because of loss of habitat and/or pollution... usually both as development grows.

Here for example you will know if a river/creek is polluted because the freshwater crabs and shrimp will not be present, as they need very clean water to survive in it.

My guess for the worms is a loss of habitat and pollution compared to the last time you saw the phenomena. just my opinion =)