In a scene straight out of a horror movie, one residence in Thailand found itself completely covered in earthworms. What the heck brought these horrifying swarms to the surface?
Published Apr. 21, 2022 2:09 PM EDT | Updated Apr. 21, 2022 2:09 PM EDT
Worms. Slimy, slinky, squishy, as far as the eye can see.
If the sight of creepy-crawly earthworms isn't for you, then thank your lucky stars you didn't find yourself in Tak, Thailand, this week.
On Tuesday morning, Tak residents woke up to a scene straight out of a horror movie, except it played out on driveways and front yards rather than on a silver screen. The thousands of worms made their swarming appearance in one front yard following a deluge of rain showers on April 19.
Video footage shared by KameraOne showed the piles of the roughly 6-inch-long earthworms crawling over each other and slinking along sidewalks in the northwestern Thailand province. As the camera pans across the front yard and over the driveway, a seemingly endless swarm of worms can be seen.
The video goes on to show a local villager pointing at the worms in seeming disbelief. According to reports, some villagers worried the swarm of worms could be a sign of bad things to come. Perhaps not surprisingly, the worm swarm was preceded by heavy rainfall.
AccuWeather Meteorologist Renee Duff said that in a 24-hour period prior to when the video was shot, Tak picked up "3.13 inches (79.6 mm) of rainfall as heavy thunderstorms moved through the region." Thankfully for those who hope to never see a mob of worms like that again anytime soon, Duff said, drier weather moved into the region and will stick around into early next week.
While it's not exactly known why earthworms emerge from underground habitats following a rainstorm, experts have speculated that the emergence may be a life-saving measure.
According to researchers at Penn State University, earthworms absorb and lose moisture through their skin and can live under submerged water conditions as long as the oxygen content of the water is high enough.
"In most cases, however, earthworms will die when exposed to excessive waterlogging," researchers wrote. "They move to the surface when the soil is saturated to avoid suffocation."
Earlier in the month, earthworms made a newsworthy appearance in a different Thailand province. In the southwestern corner of the country, a peculiar, circular ring of wriggling worms was captured on film. According to experts, the worms were fungus gnat larvae, and they form a circular pattern with each other in order to protect against predators.
Those worms, which were seen on April 12 in the province of Trang, also emerged after nearly an inch of rain (23 mm) fell on April 11 and April 12.
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