November 27, 2010: The Story Until Now
After first Umber and then Ginger were buried in the yard, their sister Amber still had a swollen eye that was not improving despite aspirin & garlic, neosporin, and tetra-antibiotic treatments. Amber was moved to a convalescent hospital on Sunday November 21. She was left in the care of Kimberly who believes Amber has an eye parasite (from eating garden worms) and promised to worm Amber the very next day. Kimberly is a kind woman who takes in chickens whose health is severely compromised, and she nurses them back to health.
Chicken Coop Front View
Daniel got assistance from Victor on Thanksgiving and the chicken coop was rotated 180º so that the back of the house will get the sunrise and sunset will happen in the front. The interior was hosed down and all the chicken sh#t was swept up and buried in the vegetable patch. The inside of the coop was sprayed with bleach diluted in water 1:7.
Chicken Coop Rear View
The rear of the coop which had been unpainted plywood was primed with green primer that was watered down to better penetrate the wood.
Update: November 28, 2010
Since Daniel spent so much time and energy building a chicken coop and habitat, he has not given up on the endeavor to raise chickens in the yard. Wes in El Monte has already told Daniel that he will get him some nice hens, and Amber may recover and return home. Since chickens are social creatures, Amber will not be coming home unless there are some companions for her. It might be best to start anew with some young chicks that have been inoculated against the horrific diseases like Newcastle and Marek’s. Though the first chapter in the adventures of the Fuzzy Bottom Gals has ended tragically, it is expected that future chapters will contain some happy times.
What do ya think?
October 25, 2010 12:58 PM
Adam Schreck
Sent from my useless iphone
Arrowheaded Flatworm
Hi Adam,
What we think is that you did not use our form for submission, so much of the information we require in our form, which is of tremendous assistance to us for identification purposes as well as for the benefit of our readership, is absent from your submission which is curiously devoid of content. This is a Land Planarium or Arrowhead Flatworm. We also think your photo is a bit blurry and that it is a cold morning and that we should put on a pot of coffee and that we have a very busy day at work today, but somehow we don’t think you want to know all of what we are thinking.
5
¶ Posted 26 October 2010 § ‡ ° Leech?
June 9, 2010
Here is a leech (I think) that I see fairly frequently at my property in “cloud forest” at 2100m on the eastern slope of the Western Cordilla in Valle De Cauca. It´s about 9cm long. Can you identify it for me?
Pitter
Valle De Cauca, Colombia
Leech or PLanarian?
Dear Pitter,
We are very excited to have received your letter, because it represents the first posting to our site for a Leech. We did some research, and Leeches are actually considered to be Worms, and according to the Australian Museum website, they belong to the same class as earthworms, Clitellata. You may also find information on Wikipedia. Alas, we do not have the necessary knowledge to further classify your particular Leech.
Leech or Planarian?
5
¶ Posted 09 June 2010 § Leeches ‡ ° Colorful Worm
April 29, 2010
It is look like worm, it’s head look like a hammer. and the length of body is approximate 40mm.
Goree Chong from Malaysia
Penang State of Malaysia
Terrestrial Planarian
Hi Goree,
Your photo is the second Terrestrial Planarian we received today, the other being a different species from Japan. Your specimen most closely resembles Bipalium rauchi which is pictured on the Terrestrial Planaria website. There is also a YouTube video that looks quite similar.
¶ Posted 29 April 2010 § ‡ ° Damp terrestrial arrowhead flatworm
April 29, 2010
I came across this flatworm under a moist slab of wood in my backyard garden. The flatworm has a head that resembles a fan at times and at other times an arrowhead. The tail anchored the flatworm to the moist wood, although this flatworm was pretty much curled and very mucusy. Along with this flatworm were orange winged beetles resembling ladybugs the size of peppercorn kernels and sow bugs under the wood slab. The dorsal side of the flatworm were 2 outer broad dark stripes (running from head to tail) with a thinner light dark stripe between and parallel to the 2 broad stripes. The underside was basically pale. There was only one flatworm not a community of them. For April it has been raining a bit more than usual, and the garden ground is a bit moist making it easier to pluck out unwanted baby weeds. I was just curious to see what community lived under this particular slab of wood.
My question is what type of flatworm is this?
Lucy
Fukuoka City, Japan
Land Planarian
Hi Lucy,
Thank you for including the detailed information about the community you found under the slab of wood. We do not have the necessary skills to identify what species of Planarian you have discovered. It is very possible that it is a young Arrowhead Flatworm, Bipalium kewense, which can grow to ten inches in length. The markings are consistent with that species. The Texas Master Gardener website has a nice page on the Land Planarian. The Featured Creatures website has a great page on the Land Planarian.
¶ Posted 29 April 2010 § ‡ ° Small Floating Worms in My Warm Water Aquarium
April 13, 2010
Whats that bug please help…i have been an avid reader for at least 3 years now and have seen your both grown to what it is now…i live in Sierra Madre Ca near you if i recall in some posts…. ok to the point i have small worms in my warm water aquarium 82 – 83 degrees they are about quarter inch in length and do nothing but float around and wiggle…what are they?..and how can i get rid of them? …the tank is about 20 gallons and houses 3 algae eaters 1 peacock eel and 2 red crabs..i have another tank same size same temp. no worms only difference is the sub-straight in the tank w/ worms is sand ..please assist . P.S i have no image due to the size and resources to capture the image .. TY
Long time reader first time caller…Sean
Sierra Madre Ca
Unknown Aquarium Worms
Hi Sean,
Your aquarium is freshwater and we don’t know if it has plants. We also don’t know where the sand came from or if there are snails present. We also don’t know how long the tank has been established, when the worms first appeared, or if there have been any recent introductions to the aquarium. An aquarium is a closed system, and anything in the aquarium is introduced when things (including plants, animals, furnishings or water) are added by the aquarist, and sometimes organisms may be introduced because they are airborne. Worms are interesting creatures. They sometimes develop from encysted larvae like the Gordian Worm or Horsehair Worm. The North Dakota Department of Entomology website has a good explanation of this phenomenon. Some parasitic worms prey upon snails, and it is possible that your worms were introduced with snails. We don’t have a conclusive answer for you, but we will continue to research this topic.
We had some additional thoughts. You may want to collect a sample and try to have it identified. You can try Nathalie at Pasadena Tropical Fish on Colorado Boulevard. If that fails, the Natural History Museum in Exposition Park may be able to answer your questions. Since your email indicates that they are free-swimming, they may also be the larvae of some species of fly. They may also be Planaria. See the AquariumFish website for additional information.
Pink Spotted Earthworm?
March 4, 2010
I hope you can help us identify this unusual worm my husband discovered today while trying to photograph a mole! I didn’t see the worm, but he took several photos and after a brief internet search we’re stumped (not that we would expect otherwise, being that we’re *not* experts!). Is it just a regular earthworm with some kind of disease?
Meg
North of Houston, Texas, in Montgomery County
Worm
Hi Meg,
The worm in your photo is sure crazy looking. We cannot say if it is diseased or an unusual species without doing research on the matter, and our time at the moment is limited by other obligations. We hope by posting this quickly, someone will be able to provide us with an answer.
Worm
1
¶ Posted 05 March 2010 § ‡ ° Slug or worm
February 5, 2010
This ‘slug’ was seen in my garden in Berowra which is 30Km North of Sydney.
Ken
Berowra, North of Sydney, Australia
Australian Flatworm
Hi Ken,
Before we even began to research, we eliminated the possibility of this being a slug as it is lacking the sensory optic tentacles. We believed it more closely resembled a Land Planaria or Flatworm, but again, the hatchet shaped head was absent. We did a google search for “planaria Australia” and we were immediately taken to a Terrestrial Planaria website with an image nearly identical to your photo that is labeled Australian Flatworm. Sadly, clicking the link sends us back to google and does not provide any answers.
Australian Flatworm
Beneath the photo is this information: “Geoplanidae -> Caenoplaninae -> Australopacifica (Dendy 1894)“. Searching Geoplanida indicates that is a new higher classification of planarian flatworms. Searching Caenoplaninae led us to a similarly shaped Planaria on Wikipedia with different coloration from Australia called a Blue Garden Flatworm. Australopacifica would seem to be a genus name, and is most probably the genus of your Australian Terrestrial Flatworm. We wish your letter had more information, including the size of this beauty. Flatworms prey upon garden snails, so they are beneficial in the home garden.
Australopacifica species
¶ Posted 05 February 2010 § ‡ ° 
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