Stepping on Nightcrawlers

The other morning, following an overnight of steady, soaking rain, the nightcrawlers were out in full force on the roads. I had to pay close attention lest I trample one underfoot. It was interesting to note that the worms were quite prevalent along pastures, overgrown fields, or yards, and much less common along active farm fields. I presume that the practices of modern agriculture (plowing, chemical defoliation, chemical fertilization) are not worm-friendly.

As the sun rose higher and the pavement dried off, there were many of the critters caught in the middle of trying to cross the road. Since there were literally thousands of worms in that situation, I simply had to trust that they'd either make it to the other side safely without dehydrating, or they would not. Where I did intervene, however, was a stretch where there was an alfalfa field on the left and a fertilizer business on the right, whose parking lot was covered with sand and nuggets of fertilizer.

Any nightcrawler heading over there was doomed, so I took the time to toss any worm heading in the direction of the fertilizer business back into the alfalfa.

It was 10 feel-good minutes well spent in the middle of my run.

Photo credit here (this is the European version but looks virtually identical as here in the U.S.)