When do worms hunt for food

Implementing the Buffalo System in food plots allows several natural processes to literally create high-quality soil. One of the most important and productive processes is when the crimped forage decays providing food for earthworms. The more worms in the soil, the quicker the soil is built.

Worms not only make soil — they are much better at tilling soil than any mechanical device. Because of their gizzards, earthworms are able to digest food that other animals cannot: the gizzard breaks food down to the base nutrients that the earthworms can pass through their small intestines.

To help feed your earthworms, focus on providing as many microscopic organisms as you can. This means kitchen scraps, compost from your trash or lawn, and freshly dug soil. But a number of foods you absolutely cannot feed earthworms. All of these will be very toxic to your earthworms. By reading to the end, you, too, will know how to keep your backyard worms healthy and active! The food will move down the esophagus and land in the crop.

The gizzard is, in essence, the teeth of the worm that grinds food up into tiny pieces. Once the food processes in the gizzard, it moves to the intestine. Digestive enzymes release inside the intestine that breaks the food down even more so the worm can absorb some of the nutrients into the bloodstream. The remaining material passes out of the anus in the form of castings or poop. Castings resemble fine dirt but are rich in nutrients that help new plants grow. Related Earthworms vs Compost Worms.

No, earthworms do not have teeth but use a fleshy extension near the mouth to push food into the throat. The head end usually goes forward first. This number is different in different species, so counting segments can help you know whether your worms are of different species.

Look for the hair-like bristles called setae around or under the worm's body. Worms use their setae to help crawl and also to grip and anchor themselves firmly in the ground. Are setae paired? How are they spaced around the body? What differences in setae patterns do you see? Look at the worm's shape. Is it cylindrical or flattened? Look at the top dorsal and belly ventral side. Try turning the worm. A worm turned over will immediately right itself. Notice the worm's color: brownish, reddish, or gray-blue, or pale or white.

Pigmented worm species live at or near the surface of the soil in organic matter such as leaf litter or compost piles, but they may also burrow very deeply and feed at the surface on fresh litter.

Nonpigmented worms live and feed in the soil, not at the surface.