At long last, I discovered someone else who noticed the worm problem. The Invasive Species weblog has been tracking the problem since last year, when she read an article about worm woes in Minnesota.
An article she links to from the Society for Conservation Biology helps explain how some immigrant earthworms get around:Gundale speculates that non-native earthworms may reach northern forests as eggs, which are resilient and so could be spread via tires. In support of this, he observed that earthworm invasions were more severe closer to roads.
So, not only do earthworms travel via fishers, but also by car!
I think all this talk about worms is making my skin crawl :-P
Posted by: Donna R. Hibbs at November 1, 2003 09:54 PM