SPOKANE, Wash. -- Scientists at the University of Idaho have captured two specimens of the fabled giant Palouse earthworm.
After years of searching, researchers on March 27 located an adult and a juvenile specimen of the large worms that have become near mythic creatures in the Palouse region of Washington and Idaho.
The adult worm was positively identified by University of Kansas earthworm expert Sam James a few weeks later.
The juvenile worm is being kept in a laboratory in Moscow, along with three earthworm cocoons. In the weeks since they were collected two of the cocoons hatched, and appear to be fast-growing giant Palouse earthworms.
Scientists say the worms in the laboratory appeared to dispel a couple of reports that have added to giant Palouse earthworm lore: they did not smell like lilies, and they did not spit. And giant appears to be a relative term. The adult worm measured about 10 or 12 inches, the juvenile 6 or 7 inches.
