I was down my the pond today. The drought has made it so harly any water is running into the pond. It's a little on the stagnant and warm side.

I saw something in the water that was really creepy. It looked like a piece of string about a foot and a half long and it was squirming.

What is that?!!!

-- Paul Wheaton (paul@javaranch.com), August 07, 2001

Answers

are you sure it was moving on its own? or with the water, current, ect?? Could be a worm, leach, eel,, seaweed,, grab it and see what it does

-- stan (sopal@net-port.com), August 07, 2001.

I went to get a stick to fish it out and when I got back it was gone.

Definitely moving on its own.

Way too skinny to be an earthworm. I'm not exaggerating: it was the thickness of a piece of string. And it was about 18 inches long.

-- Paul Wheaton (paul@javaranch.com), August 07, 2001.

When earthworms get stuck in water, the do stretch out and become thinner and longer. Just remembering from my fishing days.

-- Dee in NJ (gdgtur@goes.com), August 07, 2001.

This thing was far skinnier than I have ever seen an earthworm.

The thickness of kite string.

-- Paul Wheaton (paul@javaranch.com), August 08, 2001.

Once, while pregnant and enjoying what was until that time the "best fried catfish I'd ever tasted" I took a bite and pulled out the most incredible worm I'd ever see (up until that time).Bottom feeders.

-- Ann Markson (tngreenacres@hotmail.com), August 08, 2001.

Paul, I don't know if the response I typed disappeared into cyper space or was sent without giving me notice. I rememer finding worms like what you described when I was a little girl in mud puddles after a spring rain. My mother called them 'horse hair worms' and told me that they used to find them in the water troughs when she was a little girl in Oregon. I haven't seen any in years but haven't lived in that area for over 30 years. I remember them as being quite long, but I was under thirteen then and things seem bigger when your smaller. I do know that they looked like long black horse hairs- I quess that's why my mom called them 'horse hair worms'. You could ask local wildlife people or find a book on local insects and small wild life and check it out. Maybe they really are called horse hair worms-you never know and stranger things have happened. Hope you find out what your've got. I wonder if they are a larva for some strange insect? or maybe just an odd looking worm. Now you have me wondering about a part of my childhood I had almost forgotten. I'll have to look them up. betty

-- betty modin (betty_m9@yahoo.com), August 14, 2001.

With your help, I found this: http://nature.gardenweb.com/forums/load/name/msg0209071824996.html

-- Paul Wheaton (paul@javaranch.com), August 14, 2001.

Ther worm you were probably looking at was probably a type of rounworm otherwise known as a nematod, look it up in an encyclopedia or online, i am pretty sure this is what you are seeing

-- Daniel Monsalve (tiger35037@msn.com), February 03, 2002.

Paul, I'll be darned if I didnt find one of those worms in my pond. It was in about 18 inches of water and was half in the hair algae. It was weaving and moving around. This thing was about 14-16 inches long and about as thin as a piece of spaghetti and wasnt black like horse hair, it was pinkish brown and shiny. The thing creeped me out and I threw it in my field. Im very curious what it was also. I sure hope its not something that is going to reproduce and invade.

-- Melissa Johnson (honeebee64@yahoo.com), February 25, 2002.

Today my son hollared to me the there was a live string in our swimming pool. I pulled it out of the pool. It is 12 inches long and the diameter of thin spaghetti, light brown in color, and surprisingly stiff. It wriggled into what seems like a loose knot. It has a dark tip on the end. My friend Liz M. identified it as a horse hair worm. It is fascinating. She says that the eggs are eaten by insects and tnat it becomes a parasite. I'm looking for a good website that describes them. How long tdo they live?

-- Jen Banks (jenbanks1@yahoo.com), March 13, 2002.

""Horse hair worms" Adult found in swimming pool Phylum Nematomorpha Class Gordioidea Adults are free living inhabitants of fresh water. Larvae are parasitic in insects. The larvae mature to the adult stage in the insect and when the insect is in contact with water the adult emerges. This is why the adult worm can be found swimming in a pet's water dish or the family swimming pool." Information from University of website

-- Jen Banks (jenbanks1@yahoo.com), March 13, 2002.

Jen is right. I am sure it was a "horse hair worm". found my first one in the fall in my water garden. Scooped it up and saved it. I lost they guys name,but.. I sent it to someone at the University of Nebraska. He studies them and confirmed it was a horse hair worm.Phylum Nematomorpha. Harmless to humand , pets and even my Koi. but the eggs will host on a cricket until it burst out, killing the cricket. I have lived here ( Massachusets) for 53 years and last fall was the first tiem I have seen one. I did find 2 in the fall and also have found one curled up one in my lilly pond this spring. don't know if it was dead or not. but no fear! they are ok. Unique for sure!

-- Jane M (msverna49@aol.com), March 27, 2002.

You can visit this web site: http:bsweb.unl.edu/emb/janovy/ben/info.html for more information on Nematomorpha. Mr Ben Hanlet, a PhD candidate, will be happy to get some samples of the worms.

-- Zoran Pikula (pikulaz@hhsc.ca), May 28, 2002.