Wild Kingdom

Occasionally, it seems as if my apartment is in the midst of a bit of a jungle. My roommate, Dixie, and I refer to this phenomenon as "Wild Kingdom." The wildlife has included spiders, slugs, and ants. Plus, there was the night of the dreaded sidewalk millipedes. Let me tell you - those prehistoric-looking critters can definitely make good time. It must be all the legs ;)

There are also quite a few earthworms. They normally come out when it rains, but the other night, I was quite shocked to see this guy wriggling his way across the concrete. He had to be a foot long. I used my flip-flop for a scale comparison in the picture.

In attempting to find out how long earthworms can grow, I came across this website: http://yucky.discovery.com/flash/worm/pg000216.html. I was drawn to the fact that the domain name is "yucky discovery." Upon further investigation, I found a little interview with Eddie Earthworm. Here's a sample of what it's like (note: I'm leaving the punctuation, spelling, etc. as it appears on the site):

Dateline: Dirt with Eddie the Earthworm

Wendell: We're here doing a worm in the dirt interview with Eddie the Earthworm. Eddie, what do you want to say to the folks at home today?
Eddie: Wendell, we worms have gotten a bum rap. We don't get no respect. So what if we're slimey? Our mucous keeps us moist -- so we can breathe through our skin! So what if we eat leaves and dirt -- that's our hamburger and fries! Does that give people the right to call us yucky? OR to scream when they see us?