#6 - Recognition and respect required!

I've always been very careful about earthworms when I'm rootling around in the soil.  Maybe it's a farming background or perhaps just  being  a very enthusiastic gardener!   Whatever the reason, this small invertebrate animal is  truly one of nature's marvels.   

The exact number of earthworm species is debatable, but some scientists believe there to be over 30,000 varieties populate our planet and never cease their valuable work.

Important consideration

If the humble worm should
Make you squirm
Consider this.
If the worm should shirk
Or fail to work.
There'd be no earth -
Just stone and granite.
Perhaps the end
Of our planet.

Hermaphrodites, but produce eggs, have no eyes yet can sense light,  no lungs, but breathe through their moisture-demanding skin, they're respected by farmers and gardeners alike for their ability to decompose organic matter.  The tiny bristles that cover every segment of their bodies help speed them through the ground. 

There are few animals which have played so important a part in the history of the world as the earthworm.

According to the National Farmers Union, they're often called 'Ecosystem engineers.'  Arbiters of healthy soil, they provide food for an astonishing variety of other creatures.   Foxes, moles,  hedgehogs, slow worms, birds, frogs and toads all benefit from this incredible worm.

Economist E. F.Schumacher's essays made 'Small is beautiful' a catchphrase of the seventies but it's a perfect description of the earthworm.

But the final word must go  to Charles Darwin, who studied them for  over thirty years, and  wrote, 'There are few animals which have played so important a part in the history of the world as the earthworm.'

Coming up in Friday's edition, discover who typically wins when cats and dogs face off in the battle for household supremacy. You might be surprised at the real pecking order!