8-Inch Jumping Worms That Can Leap a Foot High Are Bad News as They Spread Across the Country

Asian jumping worms also called Alabama jumpers, Jersey wrigglers, and crazy snake worms will hatch and be ready to cause havoc if they haven't already to our gardens, forests, and the eco-system as a whole.

Yes, Hollywood could turn this into a horror movie for sure.

Now there's no worry that these creepy crawlers that can leap up to one foot into the air according to the USDA are dangerous to you. Rather their destructive nature is purely ruining your garden and bushes because their veracious appetites require fuel from jumping and that fuel is the soil in our gardens and forests.

According to Cornell University, they're not native but rather originally from East Asia, thus their name. Right now you can find them in the Southeast, the mid-Atlantic, the Northeast, the Midwest, and a bit of the Northwest. Since jumping worms live in the soil we humans help spread them in our mulch, potting mixes, potted plants, and even raking and blowing leaves.

I've attached two videos below but they're not hard to miss according to the CT Insider.

When they jump there's nothing smooth about it rather they thrash around. This is a method to escape predators while they slither around like snakes growing up to eight inches long. The jumping worm also has a prominent cream-colored band around its body that you can't miss.

They will completely freak most of us out with that foot-high jump into the air that happens when they're disturbed or feel threatened.

You know you have an infestation if your soil looks like coffee grounds or Grape Nuts cereal according to CT Insider. You can kill them with 1-2 drops of dish soap dissolved in a gallon of water.

While adults die each winter, this happens after they've laid up to 60 tiny cocoons the size of a mustard seed that hatch at 50 degrees according to Cornell University.

Prevention is the only way to slow them down since there are no chemical or pesticide treatments for jumping worms and your local nursery can help you out with that.