WormWatch

You can watch an earthworm but it can’t watch you. That’s because it doesn’t have eyes. It doesn’t have ears to hear you, or a nose to smell you or hands to hold you. But you have all of those and that means you can be a WormWatcher.

Earthworms are nature’s great recyclers. They munch on debris, leave behind wonderful nutrients and make sure that the water reaches the roots of plants.

Learning about the different kinds of worms and their numbers is important. You can find worms in different ways. Flip over rocks and logs and there they are. Or dig a hole and see how many layers of worms are at work below the surface. If you dig earthworms, we dig you!

How to Monitor Worms? 

1. Select a Site
   Your backyard, school yard, farmland, forest, grassland – anywhere will do!  But remember, earthworms like moist cool soil.
2. Flip, Strip and Dig
   Take your guide with you and find earthworms by flipping over rocks, logs and other bits of deadfall and stripping back the bark on the soil side of fallen logs.  If you have nothing to flip or strip, push a shovel as far as you can into the soil, flip it and count the worms.
3. Record
   Record the location, species, date, soil type and colour, and habitat on the data form.
4. Share
   Once you’ve returned home visit www.naturewatch.ca and share your discoveries.  You will become an official NatureWatcher!

Photo: Earthworm by Dodo-Bird (via Flickr)