Posted on 08/20/2024 6:11:03 PM PDT by Red Badger
Yes, a poisonous hammerhead worm.
This is the stuff of nightmares, y'all. Not only is it disgusting, toxic and more than a foot long, it's also nearly impossible to kill — because if you cut it in half, it just regenerates itself! Actually, it turns out that all flatworms have the ability to become two different, genetically identical flatworms if they are cut in half. And that's terrifying.
Also, why are we calling this a worm? I think once it reaches a foot long, it should officially be classified as a snake. Then again, those things in Dune are like 300 feet long, and they still call those worms. So what do I know?
VIDEO AT LINK...........
Anyway, these invasive hammerhead mini-snakes have been appearing on driveways, patios and sidewalks thanks to their underground homes being flooded by Hurricane Beryl and other storms that have been battering Southeast Texas this year.
Underground homes. You catch that? So it's only a matter of time before those Dune worms make their way to the surface, too. Or those things from Tremors. Are they the same species?
The good news is, these hammerhead worms aren't going to kill you or swallow you alive. But they might give you a nasty itch (again, not the same kind of nasty itch Sexyy Red has).
According to the Texas Invasive Species Institute (TISI), these little guys "secrete chemicals through their skin to make themselves noxious to predators, and aid in the digestion of earthworms. These chemicals can cause skin irritation on humans if they hold the flatworm, and domestic mammals if they consume the flatworm. Furthermore, many flatworms can carry parasitic nematodes within them."
I was trying to figure out why I know the word "nematode," and then it occurred to me…
Man, what a throwback. Now, excuse me while I sit here and watch that entire episode.
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Try Harbor Freight!......................
I thought they were an invasive species. That’s part of their war on us.
Nope, they live all over the world. They usually stay underground, but since they had floods in SE Texas the have to come to the surface to breathe....................
Are they native or invasive?
Native..................
Thanks. I like to blame china for most things, and this WAS one of them. Now I’m going to have to find one of the 456789 other things going on for which to blame them.
Or if you would get millions of them regenerating from one?
Brownsville to San Marcos. Beaumont to big bend
Someone care to narrow it dow
They are everywhere, but usually stay underground so you never see them.....................
Kissin' cousins: "I can't breeve …"
Someone care to narrow it dow
We had a lot of them last year here in NE Texas. Haven't seen any in my yard this year. A little table salt instantly liquefies them. They prey on beneficial earthworms, so I kill every one I see.
I thought it was a new name for James Carville.
ONE GOOD WORM TURN DESERVES ANOTHER...................
Thanks. I was thinking of having table salt handy
They are like a slug, sprinkle salt on them
Salt...melt him.
But you repeat.
Lol!
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