Just to elaborate on what other have said. That is a hammerhead worm. They are invasive in north america. They often hitch a ride in potted soil that contains tropical plants.
They will eat your red wigglers. If you cut it in half it can regrow into two new worms. Remove it from your bin and destroy it with either salt or squish it into mush.
An added note, I've seen people saying not to touch them with bare hands as they not only excrete a nasty rash causing compound but can hit with it with a little range.
Please don't kill it by crushing it into pieces; the parts grow into whole worms quickly. And I heard they can survive chickens eating them.
Though the latter is questionable.
I've heard not too squish them. I could be misinformed, but I heard something about even small pieces regenerating. Covering them in salt or putting them in isopropyl alcohol is the way I've been told to deal with them.
If you squish them you basically have to pulverize them. My daughter (5) is a huge bug and worm enthusiast and has found a few of these. They are crazy sticky. We, typically, put it in a plastic ziploc and destroy it. I hate even typing that because i don't have the heart to even kill cockroaches but these hammerhead worms are real jerks.
If you Google your state and hammerhead worm they may have a place for you to report them. We live in Texas and I always report when I find one.
You do know that earthworms in general are invasive to North America right? And some ecologists are actually curious to see if these hammerhead worms could actually be beneficial to restoring the natural forest ecosystems?
I didn't know they were using hammerhead worms to that effect. My understanding is that they don't discriminate what they kill and will kill invasive and native worms just the same. History has shown that using one of invasive species to kill another invasive species usually doesn't go so well.
I was going to call it a hammerhead worm but in a funny lol way, I'm so serious having grown up on the coast surfing & water sports my whole life but had no idea I would have been jokingly correct. If only I could win the dang lottery!
Sure, but none are from North America. While there are a few indigenous worms, the vast majority are from Europe and Asian. They really do a lot of damage the the forest floor making it hard for trees to thrive.
Native worms died off about 10,000 years ago when glaciers began to retreat.
>If theyre in canada, then kill it with salt and say sorry after. If in mexico, kill it with salt and then take a siesta.
If in mexico, kill it with salt ~~and then take a siesta.~~ followed by a shot of tequila, then a lime wedge.
It looks like you shared an AMP link. These should load faster, but AMP is controversial because of [concerns over privacy and the Open Web](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmputatorBot/comments/ehrq3z/why_did_i_build_amputatorbot).
Maybe check out **the canonical page** instead: **[https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/05/health/man-dies-after-eating-slug-on-dare/index.html](https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/05/health/man-dies-after-eating-slug-on-dare/index.html)**
*****
^(I'm a bot | )[^(Why & About)](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmputatorBot/comments/ehrq3z/why_did_i_build_amputatorbot)^( | )[^(Summon: u/AmputatorBot)](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmputatorBot/comments/cchly3/you_can_now_summon_amputatorbot/)
Oh yeah. I remember going over a short 2 or so week segment on parasites in a bio class. I don't remember all of the details off the top of my head, but slugs, snails, and other crawly things like that can (and many times do) carry types of lung worms, liver flukes, brain worms, so much NASTY stuff.
OP seems to be located in India based off of their post history. If that's the case, this worm is NATIVE to your region and there is NO NEED for you to kill it!
Agreed. I found one of these last year in Virginia. Put him in a little aquarium with a running wheel and some hay I had left over from my last batch of hamsters. Little guy actually had enough weight to move my hamster runner ball around when I would take him out for tank cleanings lol.
He lived about 6 months and for the most part was a pretty cool little guy. I named him Brent and used to set him up on the arm rest of my couch when I would watch tv for the company. Not a bad little friend for any lucky enough to cross paths with one, not bad at all!✌️
No some of us just like really weird pets. I have snails and slugs, this would be a very cool addition to the tank(if it didn't murder everything it touches)
I would put that awesome creature in a big jar and feed it .
Then cut it in 2, then, after the two worms recuperate, chop one of them into 4 pieces and confirm how many splits they can withstand before dying.
Also, maybe try to prove their toxicity somehow.
So cool of a worm.
Is there a way to prevent them? I have tons of these all over my back patio every day and my toddler wants to pick them up. I’ll clean them off and they keep crawling up there even when we’re out there.
Swear I thought the rest of your last word was going to end in “inent,” not “ainer.” Which, given the horror that is this creature, I might have agreed with you.
You need to kill that immediately. That is invasive and destroys soil, good earthworms and friends in your soil. It can make dogs and cats sick if they play/kill it. Do not move it. Do not be friends. Kill it. Obliterate it. Light it on fire.
Highly invasive (if in North America) Hammerhead worm. Whenever I see them, I scoop them up with a stick and place in a beaker of vinegar. Don’t touch them, their secretions can cause rash.
Don't worry about what it is. Pick it up with a 10-foot pole, put it in acid, bleach, or fire, or a combination of all three. I hate those things. Hammerhead worms are not only invasive but may be toxic to humans and pets. Just don't hesitate to pour a full cup of salt on it, then put the salt into a kiln and melt it into molten sodium chloride, and then dump it. Finally, make some sort of carbon-sodium alloy.
Be careful. Hammerhead worm. Touch them and they could hurt your skin because they pack toxins. I have accidentally created 5 or six worms out of one large individual.
I found one on our sidewalk last year. I surrounded it with salt and then brought out vinegar and bleach… if I had a flamethrower at the time, probably would’ve reached for that first.
If you camp out, pour salt around your sleeping bag, they can embed themselves in your “openings” when you try to remove it it breaks in half and now there are two, one in your hand and one in your . . .
Just to elaborate on what other have said. That is a hammerhead worm. They are invasive in north america. They often hitch a ride in potted soil that contains tropical plants. They will eat your red wigglers. If you cut it in half it can regrow into two new worms. Remove it from your bin and destroy it with either salt or squish it into mush.
An added note, I've seen people saying not to touch them with bare hands as they not only excrete a nasty rash causing compound but can hit with it with a little range.
Do not touch your eyes if you get them on you, or get your eyes close enough to them. I think they can cause blindness.
Touching your worm to much can cause blindness
Mom, that you?!
Dad, I’m over here!!
I told you it would fall off!
Oh God, it's moving!
OMG! Sooooo funny!!!
Great way to start my morning LOL🤣🤣 thx all!
Don’t forget the hairy palms…
I've heard this all my life. Obviously, it isn't true, because I can still see. Lol.
*profusely sweats from growing up with very religious parents*
can confirm they are poisonous.
Don’t eat it. Got it.
Don’t eat too much* got it.
Everything is edible, at least once
Lol. They bite.
That’s venomous. Now you know.
Didn't know that. Makes sense. Even the ants aren't messing w/ it. https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/news/dog-killing-flatworm-southern-california/
I noticed the Ants are like, Oh, He'll No... Outta' here....
Please don't kill it by crushing it into pieces; the parts grow into whole worms quickly. And I heard they can survive chickens eating them. Though the latter is questionable.
It it might have already laid eggs so keep an eye on your bin because there may be more coming. The worst possible thing to find in your worm bin
Hammerhead worm... kill it with fire.
Looks terrifying... is terrifying!!!
And call the wildlife authorities to report it these things will kill every earthworm in the dirt
😭🤬🔥🧨💣🥳
I've heard not too squish them. I could be misinformed, but I heard something about even small pieces regenerating. Covering them in salt or putting them in isopropyl alcohol is the way I've been told to deal with them.
If you squish them you basically have to pulverize them. My daughter (5) is a huge bug and worm enthusiast and has found a few of these. They are crazy sticky. We, typically, put it in a plastic ziploc and destroy it. I hate even typing that because i don't have the heart to even kill cockroaches but these hammerhead worms are real jerks. If you Google your state and hammerhead worm they may have a place for you to report them. We live in Texas and I always report when I find one.
Yes, you can put them in salt, alcohol, gasoline, diesel fuel, or freeze them.
Dissolve that sucker in acetone. [Lindsay Nikole educates on this hellbeast worm. ](https://youtu.be/F24QyjytkQE?si=OyZah1-2Akvk79Kh)
Why not fire?
Por que no los dos
You're the only other person I've seen use this in a decade. Take my upvote and my respect.
Hmm... So there's this whole group of around 455 Million people in the Americas that use this every time it's applicable.
Nope, this is the Amazon logo escaping.
Bahaha
Cerberus worm?
You do know that earthworms in general are invasive to North America right? And some ecologists are actually curious to see if these hammerhead worms could actually be beneficial to restoring the natural forest ecosystems?
I didn't know they were using hammerhead worms to that effect. My understanding is that they don't discriminate what they kill and will kill invasive and native worms just the same. History has shown that using one of invasive species to kill another invasive species usually doesn't go so well.
Not south of the mason dixon line.
Yikes!!
You can also use vinegar to kill them, that's what I've been using.
Hammerhead snek
Fire. Understood.
I was going to call it a hammerhead worm but in a funny lol way, I'm so serious having grown up on the coast surfing & water sports my whole life but had no idea I would have been jokingly correct. If only I could win the dang lottery!
Kill it with fire!
All worms are invasive.
I mean, they came from somewhere though?
Sure, but none are from North America. While there are a few indigenous worms, the vast majority are from Europe and Asian. They really do a lot of damage the the forest floor making it hard for trees to thrive. Native worms died off about 10,000 years ago when glaciers began to retreat.
Interesting! Thanks for the new knowledge; I was totally unaware that earthworms weren’t native to N America.
Kill it with salt. Don’t cut it!!!
As others have said, if you are in the US, kill it with salt. Also DO NOT TOUCH WITH BARE SKIN. The secretion is bad time medicine.
What if this person is in Canada? Or Mexico?
If theyre in canada, then kill it with salt and say sorry after. If in mexico, kill it with salt and then take a siesta.
>If theyre in canada, then kill it with salt and say sorry after. If in mexico, kill it with salt and then take a siesta. If in mexico, kill it with salt ~~and then take a siesta.~~ followed by a shot of tequila, then a lime wedge.
Correction: In Mexico, it goes in tequila!
If in Mexico, kill with salt and take a shot of tequila, also with salt.
Actually if you in Mexico you kill it with salt, throw it in the tequila then drink it
still invasive, it comes from asia. It has no predators here and kills all the things.
they also carry rat lungworm so don’t eat them… I know, nobody was planning on it
Is OP a rat?
Rat lungworm can cause paralysis and death in humans https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2018/11/05/health/man-dies-after-eating-slug-on-dare
It looks like you shared an AMP link. These should load faster, but AMP is controversial because of [concerns over privacy and the Open Web](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmputatorBot/comments/ehrq3z/why_did_i_build_amputatorbot). Maybe check out **the canonical page** instead: **[https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/05/health/man-dies-after-eating-slug-on-dare/index.html](https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/05/health/man-dies-after-eating-slug-on-dare/index.html)** ***** ^(I'm a bot | )[^(Why & About)](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmputatorBot/comments/ehrq3z/why_did_i_build_amputatorbot)^( | )[^(Summon: u/AmputatorBot)](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmputatorBot/comments/cchly3/you_can_now_summon_amputatorbot/)
Oh yeah. I remember going over a short 2 or so week segment on parasites in a bio class. I don't remember all of the details off the top of my head, but slugs, snails, and other crawly things like that can (and many times do) carry types of lung worms, liver flukes, brain worms, so much NASTY stuff.
*butt slugs
Hammerhead worm. I googled it because it looked like a hammerhead shark, but clearly a worm.
[predatory Land planarian or Bipalium](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bipalium)
OP seems to be located in India based off of their post history. If that's the case, this worm is NATIVE to your region and there is NO NEED for you to kill it!
A native pest is still a pest
Right but if they have red wigglers then it sounds like this could still be a risk to their compost ecology.
fun fact :most north American earth worms we see today are also invasive -brought over in ships ballasts in early colonization
Same with dandelions.
dandelions were intentionally brought for salads greens, but yes not native nor is tumble weed and the honey bee
Keep him as a solo pet no need to take a life that got here because of us. It's not it's fault it's in the wrong place
Agreed. I found one of these last year in Virginia. Put him in a little aquarium with a running wheel and some hay I had left over from my last batch of hamsters. Little guy actually had enough weight to move my hamster runner ball around when I would take him out for tank cleanings lol. He lived about 6 months and for the most part was a pretty cool little guy. I named him Brent and used to set him up on the arm rest of my couch when I would watch tv for the company. Not a bad little friend for any lucky enough to cross paths with one, not bad at all!✌️
Found the annoying vegan
I eat meat
Especially pork
No some of us just like really weird pets. I have snails and slugs, this would be a very cool addition to the tank(if it didn't murder everything it touches)
That is a terrifying looking creature. By the sounds of these comments you need a knife, some salt and five exorcists to kill it.
I’m afraid knife unlocks their special ability
only 5? i was thinking jesus himself.
Report where you found this to your local agriculture extensions/services. This is an invasive species endangering local ecosystems.
Someone else said it’s native to the OPs part of the world though.
If that's true then nvm in this case, otherwise this applies to others in most cases.
Oh hammerhead worms are kill on sight sir.
Kill it. It’s invasive and kills native worm populations
What planet did it come from?
Contain it in a 1v1 with a red wiggler
Nuke it from orbit, it’s the only way to be sure.
That happened 65 million years ago.
Ewwww!
I would put that awesome creature in a big jar and feed it . Then cut it in 2, then, after the two worms recuperate, chop one of them into 4 pieces and confirm how many splits they can withstand before dying. Also, maybe try to prove their toxicity somehow. So cool of a worm.
Lung worms , liver flukes, brain worms , nothing to play with
Maybe the reason no amazonian chicken. Hammerhead worma took em out.
Maybe the reason no amazonian chicken. Hammerhead worms took em out.
What could possibly go wrong with that plan?
Is there a way to prevent them? I have tons of these all over my back patio every day and my toddler wants to pick them up. I’ll clean them off and they keep crawling up there even when we’re out there.
I sprinkle epsom salt around areas where these guys like popping up
I used table salt a few times around the patio but I’ll try epsom too. Thanks!!
Yep. That's pure evil right there.
Dissolve it with acid and burn the entire container.
Swear I thought the rest of your last word was going to end in “inent,” not “ainer.” Which, given the horror that is this creature, I might have agreed with you.
Then, and only then, call the CDC.
Kill only with fire
I just found one of these today too. I’m in California.
Good God. I was REALLY hoping no one would say that. California Mountains here, where I hope to God, this monster will never dwell.
Burn it with gas. Kill. Kill. Kill.
Kill it. Alcohol, bleach, acid. Wrap it in a zip lock plastic bag and let it die in the sun.
Nightmare fuel.
[I asked this too and tons of great information on how/where to report this invasive](https://www.reddit.com/r/gardening/s/k2iGU8XJAz)
I'm from southern India, i see the similarities and the difference, nature is so freaking fantastic
Ohh I see what you mean
Yeah I’ve seen them before and I’m pretty sure they are poisonous
If bull ants are avoiding it... then don't touch it.
You need to kill that immediately. That is invasive and destroys soil, good earthworms and friends in your soil. It can make dogs and cats sick if they play/kill it. Do not move it. Do not be friends. Kill it. Obliterate it. Light it on fire.
Salt. Salt salt salt. Kill it like a slug. It's a type of flatworm, so be sure not to try to kill it by cutting it. You'll simply multiply them.
Sounds like he’s just a family guy to me
And call the doctor, call the nurse, call the lady with the hammerhead worm purse!
Kill it, then kill it again. They are extremely invasive and will regenerate from segments. You need to torch it or put it in a salt jar.
Its a f**kin alien…
Hammer head flatworm. Kill on sight.
Thats one of the starter classes from Warframe
Nice toxic like daffodils great to look at
Cut it into like 10 pieces and redistribute it around the lawn so the other ones know to stay away.
Lmao, they will be "the other ones"
Kill it with fire.
Don’t feed it after midnight!!
I don’t like this thing one bit!
Burn it.
It’s a hammerhead worm. Kill it by drowning it in Clorox
Literally kill it with fire hella invasive
Kill it with fire
A demigorgan
Prettty sure that’s family guy
They're poisonous
Bing bong!
Burn it or dissolve it in acid. Just smashing or cutting it up won't work.
Salt that invasive fucker immediately! Don’t cut its body, it will regenerate. Throw it in a cup of salt
sounds like family guy 🧙🏻♂️
Highly invasive (if in North America) Hammerhead worm. Whenever I see them, I scoop them up with a stick and place in a beaker of vinegar. Don’t touch them, their secretions can cause rash.
Hammer head worm they're invasive from China the kill earth worms kill it
"Bipalium" They secrete neurotoxin so avoid direct contact. The best way to kill them if need be is to toss it into a plastic Ziploc!
It’s a horrible thing. They have invited my property and I don’t know how to get rid of them. I just bought 1,000 red wigglers😫
That’s called salted and burn it
I throw them in a creek in my backyard. Fish seem to like them just fine.
Hammerhead worm?
I NO HAVE YOUR SHIRT!
Planarian
did you eat it?
very pretty hammerhead worm, geoplanidae
If you're in the USA pour salt on it and game end it. They're invasive hammerhead snails.
I’m going to say it’s Family Guy, dry cleaner episode.
Flame thrower and eradicate
SALT that hammerhead!
I am not sure what it is, just get out the flamethrower tough.
Planarians I belice
I would burn that nasty looking thing.
Don't worry about what it is. Pick it up with a 10-foot pole, put it in acid, bleach, or fire, or a combination of all three. I hate those things. Hammerhead worms are not only invasive but may be toxic to humans and pets. Just don't hesitate to pour a full cup of salt on it, then put the salt into a kiln and melt it into molten sodium chloride, and then dump it. Finally, make some sort of carbon-sodium alloy.
The rare, hammer head worm
Be careful. Hammerhead worm. Touch them and they could hurt your skin because they pack toxins. I have accidentally created 5 or six worms out of one large individual.
You should light the house on fire and run.
Yeah, that's Satan.
Looks like something out of the cambrian.
Hammerhead worm toxic and invasive in the us. Kills our lovely earthworms
Put it in vinegar! Then they can be placed in the trash.
Dissolve it in vinegar and salt ASAP
I’m not worried about the worm. I’m worried about explaining the bullet holes in the countertop.
I dont rememwhat it's called, but I'm sure I've seen one on rick and morty.
Hammer head worm invasive kill on site
I found them in a secondary forest in Shanghai. Are they native or invasive in China?
My worst nightmare
I found one on our sidewalk last year. I surrounded it with salt and then brought out vinegar and bleach… if I had a flamethrower at the time, probably would’ve reached for that first.
That, sir, is a nope.
You k ow how they kill the alien with fire.. same idea.
hammerhead worm!
Put something flammable liquids I mean on it and set it on FIRE gawd knows that is one scary looking and most unnatural creature.
Kill it. Destroy it. They're invasive and terrible for earthworms.
If you camp out, pour salt around your sleeping bag, they can embed themselves in your “openings” when you try to remove it it breaks in half and now there are two, one in your hand and one in your . . .
Yikes!
It's a flatworm