It has been rainy here off and on for the better part of two weeks now, and has rained every day since Friday to the point that at least once a day, it's rained faster than it can soak in, and there has been standing water in my yard, front and back. My back door has a little rooflet over it such that I can open the upper slider on my storm door and not have it rain in unless the wind is blowing toward the house. The front door is more fully protected, and if the wind is not blowing, I frequently open the sliders on both doors to let the cool air circulate. (I might add that I securely latch both doors when I do this.)
Sunday night, despite the fact that I had shoulder surgery the previous Wednesday, I was able to open the lower slider on the back door, and the upper one on the front door and got some nice, cool, newly rinsed chi wafting through the house. Even though it's half past October, it's been in the low 80's-high 70's during the day, and the middle to high 60's at night. I worked all day Sunday, and when I signed off at 7 pm, I went into the living room to close the slider and close and lock the front door. As I did so, I noticed it was raining pretty hard, and there was standing water in the front yard, and quite brisk runoff in the street. I immediately went back to the "Liberry" to check the carpet in front of the back door, and that's when I noticed a brownish lump on the carpet about four inches back from the threshold. Since I have four cats, it's only natural that my first thought was that one of them had refunded a hairball on the carpet. I turned on the "Liberry" light to investigate -- lo, and behold! It was an earthworm! Quite alive and kick-. . er. . squirming.
I picked him up in a tissue to put him outside. Rather than fling him unceremoniously out into the yard, which was mostly puddles, I put him outside in the dirt just off the side of the porch, where he at least would have a fighting chance. The storm door was firmly shut and latched; the slider is 2 feet off the ground and has a screen on it. So how did the little bugger get in? Weird.
So I putter and mutter about the house until 8 o'clock, time to give my oldest cat, who is diabetic, his evening dose of insulin. I'm standing by the kitchen sink, look down, see something that looks like a piece of dirty string on the rug and realize it is another earthworm! Now I'm totally weirded out. I spent about 10 minutes carefully inspecting all around the door frame, along the wall on either side and all along the floor, and found no cracks or openings of any kind. I have no clue how they got in.
Now, don't get me wrong, I like earthworms. True, they do have a certain ew factor, but they are Beneficial to Mankind, and I respect that. I like having them in my yard, and I appreciate the work they do aerating the soil. When I was sifting those (expletive deleted) little white rocks out of my front yard, I sifted carefully and whenever I'd come across one, I'd always rescue him from the sifter and tuck the little bugger under the dirt and wish him bon appétit! Worm poop is free plant food. However, they breathe air same as we do. When the ground gets saturated like this, they come to the surface to breathe. Otherwise, they'd drown.
Sunday night, despite the fact that I had shoulder surgery the previous Wednesday, I was able to open the lower slider on the back door, and the upper one on the front door and got some nice, cool, newly rinsed chi wafting through the house. Even though it's half past October, it's been in the low 80's-high 70's during the day, and the middle to high 60's at night. I worked all day Sunday, and when I signed off at 7 pm, I went into the living room to close the slider and close and lock the front door. As I did so, I noticed it was raining pretty hard, and there was standing water in the front yard, and quite brisk runoff in the street. I immediately went back to the "Liberry" to check the carpet in front of the back door, and that's when I noticed a brownish lump on the carpet about four inches back from the threshold. Since I have four cats, it's only natural that my first thought was that one of them had refunded a hairball on the carpet. I turned on the "Liberry" light to investigate -- lo, and behold! It was an earthworm! Quite alive and kick-. . er. . squirming.
I picked him up in a tissue to put him outside. Rather than fling him unceremoniously out into the yard, which was mostly puddles, I put him outside in the dirt just off the side of the porch, where he at least would have a fighting chance. The storm door was firmly shut and latched; the slider is 2 feet off the ground and has a screen on it. So how did the little bugger get in? Weird.
So I putter and mutter about the house until 8 o'clock, time to give my oldest cat, who is diabetic, his evening dose of insulin. I'm standing by the kitchen sink, look down, see something that looks like a piece of dirty string on the rug and realize it is another earthworm! Now I'm totally weirded out. I spent about 10 minutes carefully inspecting all around the door frame, along the wall on either side and all along the floor, and found no cracks or openings of any kind. I have no clue how they got in.
Now, don't get me wrong, I like earthworms. True, they do have a certain ew factor, but they are Beneficial to Mankind, and I respect that. I like having them in my yard, and I appreciate the work they do aerating the soil. When I was sifting those (expletive deleted) little white rocks out of my front yard, I sifted carefully and whenever I'd come across one, I'd always rescue him from the sifter and tuck the little bugger under the dirt and wish him bon appétit! Worm poop is free plant food. However, they breathe air same as we do. When the ground gets saturated like this, they come to the surface to breathe. Otherwise, they'd drown.Phred in situ
Phred's new phriend
So today, it was raining again and I opened the back door and put up the top slider on the storm door. And now tonight, I'm taking my supper dishes back into the kitchen and there in the doorway to the kitchen is another one! I started to throw him out with the other two, but I reconsidered and put him in Phred's pot. Phred has a big pot. I may have done the little bugger a favor. There's a herd of robins that hang out in the trees next door. . .
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