Worm balls - gross!

While standing at the kitchen sink, I looked out the window.  There were several clumps of black dirt on the patio.  Immediately I assumed one of the dogs had been digging.  I rushed out to see if the laundry on the drying rack had been dirtied.  

No.  

I picked up a clump to throw it back into the grass. 

It wriggled!

I dropped it.  Eeew! 

Then looked at it. 

It was a ball of writhing, miniscule worms.  I wish I had taken a picture.  But imagine, dirt-covered pink worms about one inch long clinging together in constant motion. 

There were probably 15 clumps.  And there were a lot of dried out, dead individual worms on the concrete. Did they not reach the worm balls in time?  Did the patio dry out too fast after the brief rain?

 I got a hand hoe and a trowel and did the best I could to scoop the clumps up and pitch them into the grass.  I hope the worms found their way into the dirt and out of the sun. 

Another cluster of worms was gathered in the crack between the concrete slabs.  Those didn’t fare as well when I scraped them out and tossed them into the grass.  Some got squished, but some survived.

I’ve lived here 14 years and never have seen anything like it.