"Worms, clump and unite!" Bizarre worm behavior after Central Texas floods (pic and video)

Recently we've had major flooding in some areas of Central Texas. In a bizarre turn of events, gaggles of worms have clumped together and aligned between the yellow lines of a road in one of our state parks.

Eisenhower State Park said it was puzzled by the “spaghetti” phenomena as the piles were only found in this exact park that was closed off to vehicles because of recent floods.

Link to RT



Any worm experts or enthusiasts here?

They remained for 2 days and then headed out. They were not only aligned, but were fairly evenly spaced.

What on Earth? Fun mystery for sure!

Earthworms come to the surface for three reasons . Mating, migration, and to escape predators .


What I believe you're looking at there is worm orgies .

a reply to: Greathouse

Well, that party was super organized LOL!

originally posted by: Greathouse
Earthworms come to the surface for three reasons . Mating, migration, and to escape predators .


What I believe you're looking at there is worm orgies .

Woo Hoo!

Worms come to the surface when the ground is too wet.

So guess they decided the middle of the road
was a safe place while the ground was so wet,
might as well have some fun while congregated
and waiting out the "storm" underground.

Wow they are much smarter than we give them credit for,
congregating in between the lines,
or did the ones who didn't get that far get squished
and washed away, leaving only the ones who made it
and were smart enough to stay their;
survival of the fittest/smartest at it's finest!

Sounds like humans when the power goes out, 9 months later a baby boom.

Look for a baby worm boom! Good for the soil; win/win!

my reasoning leads me to only one conclusion (after the mating comment by greathouse being probable and most likely)
that since roads are grated to a "peak" in the middle (in between the lines) so the location where the worms joined was the highest ground around. gonna look at a video to see if the berms of the ditches are higher than the middle of the road.

originally posted by: raedar
a reply to: Greathouse

Well, that party was super organized LOL!

If you really think about it. They come to the surface for the same reason we go to bars ! Fight, fu* and flee!!!

originally posted by: fixitwcw
my reasoning leads me to only one conclusion (after the mating comment by greathouse being probable and most likely)
that since roads are grated to a "peak" in the middle (in between the lines) so the location where the worms joined was the highest ground around. gonna look at a video to see if the berms of the ditches are higher than the middle of the road.

Great reasoning, better than my squish or make it idea.

In Texas the flooding is horrid (I've lived there off and on for a total of 9 years). Yes the roads peak in the middle as high ground. Doesn't help in a lot of places, but you are correct, it is done to help drainage!

a reply to: raedar

Was reading about this earlier its a bit weird how they sit in the road along the lines. Im sure they have their reasons though..

a reply to: raedar

I get the whole mating thing. Looks like they were doing that. Also, I get the middle of the road being high ground. The odd thing to me is the spacing, as the video said that they were evenly spaced.

I never realized how many worms are in just a few acres but while fertilizing a couple soccer fields years ago at about six am I saw thousands mating. They were about half out of their hole and mating and I scared them back in and it was a little disturbing. If it were up to me I would have waited it out. I felt like a kid ruining a good time. This kind of reminded me of how some ants bunch up like a raft in water. S&f

Even earthworms can still surprise us. What a world.

It's normal for them to come out of the ground during heavy rains, and the middle of the road would be the highest spot around. The clumping though, is something I've never heard of before. I wonder...if the water kept rising, would a slimy ball of worms float better than a single slimy worm? Maybe this instinctual behavior helps them survive epic floods.

All I see is bait, and easy to get to bait at that. We have been having flooding here in Nebraska and I have seen similar behavior. Not quite as organized as the worm Frisbee in the middle of the road, but they are clumping. Snakes in the winter here in Nebraska do something similar. My dad ran a dirt moving company and would bulldoze out a ball of rattlesnakes. They were packed so tight and in the most perfect ball you have seen. He used to tell me this is how they tried to stay warm during hibernation.

Anyone else looking at that pile and thinkin....free bait for a year!!

a reply to: raedar

Usually, those worms, commonly called "night crawlers," get together in couples to mate on wet or damp evenings. Given the hardship of the flooding they wiggled away from, perhaps they took it upon themselves to have group orgies.

The unsettling aspect of this event is that it suggests more intelligence in those little critters than we would normally suspect. Looks almost like Spring Break in those images.

a reply to: Greathouse

Ooops! Sorry. I never read the replies. I responded directly to the OP.

originally posted by: warpig69
All I see is bait, and easy to get to bait at that. We have been having flooding here in Nebraska and I have seen similar behavior. Not quite as organized as the worm Frisbee in the middle of the road, but they are clumping. Snakes in the winter here in Nebraska do something similar. My dad ran a dirt moving company and would bulldoze out a ball of rattlesnakes. They were packed so tight and in the most perfect ball you have seen. He used to tell me this is how they tried to stay warm during hibernation.

I hope your dad ran those snake balls over with his bulldozer.

a reply to: grandmakdw

Are your roads cambered in the US? If so, then that may explain why they chose the middle of the road, as it would be the driest spot to hold their orgy?

Just a thought...

a reply to: raedar

The worms would have tried to escape flooding. Middle of road may have been highest point. They clump together like that because they hate the sun and are trying to get to the bottom of the pile. Used to harvest worms and these clump are what they would form as I scrapeed the dirt of them.

On the good side !!!!

It's not roadkill technically it's Roadlive .


Quiche Lorraine Avec Ver De Terre

16 worm quiche

Works migrate to high ground when the ground is soaked.
The middle of the road is the highest point. (Roads have slight grades slopping towards the edge)
Not much of a mystery.

I'm not a worm expert. Just seems logical.