Do you know why worms crawl out of the ground when it rains?

You have probably seen a thousand times how, after a downpour, worms will certainly begin to swarm on wet ground. In fact, these inhabitants of the soil are so associated with bad weather that they are called rain.

Ever wondered why they leave their cozy burrows and rise to the surface in bad weather? After all, many of them meet their death there - under the feet of people, the wheels of cars or in the beak of birds hunting them. So what makes these creatures abandon the instinct of self-preservation?

At this point, most people will just shrug their shoulders and say: worms come to the surface because the rain fills their holes and they can drown.

And it really fairS. C. Chuang. Role of diurnal rhythm of oxygen consumption in emergence from soil at night after heavy rain by earthworms / Invertebrate Biology for species that have a high level of oxygen consumption. But most of the worms are not in danger of drowning.

They dont have lungs

Instead, they breathe through their cuticles, that is, through their entire skin. How informsWhy Do Worms Crawl Onto the Sidewalk When It Rains? /Inverse soil scientist Rhonda Sherman of North Carolina State University, worms are able to spend several days under water, assimilating oxygen from it. They can suffocate only in drought, since they need moisture to maintain the permeability of the skin. And the rain won't hurt them.

So why do these creatures come out to the surface during a downpour, if they are not interfered with by water? Scientists have two explanationsWhy Do Worms Surface After Rain? / Mental Floss.

Firstly, There isWhy Do Earthworms Surface After Rain? / Scientific American earthworms that come to the surface to mate. As skin-breathing creatures, they find that wet weather is the best. True, on the surface copulate only a few species out of 4,400 known, so it's not a universal cause, but it shouldn't be discounted either.

Secondly, explainsWhy Do Earthworms Surface After Rain? / Scientific American Dr. Chris Lowe, a specialist in waste management and the environment from a British university, worms crawl out to the surface in a downpour in order to migrate. They cannot crawl on the ground in dry weather, because they quickly dehydrate, but in the rain they easily travelWhy do earthworms come out when it rains? / Earthworm Society of Britain in search of more suitable habitats.

If the worm does not like the acidity of the soil or there is not enough food in it, it is most convenient to move somewhere else in rainy weather.

In general, there is another hypothesis: the worms believe that in this way they are saved from moles. How speaksWhy Do Earthworms Surface After Rain? / Scientific American soil science professor Joseph Gorres of the University of Vermont, they are able to recognize soil vibrations created by predators and get to the surface in time so that the animal does not find them.

When it starts to rain, the worms are frightened by the sound of drops on the soil and crawl upstairs so as not to meet a potential enemy. Is it true, explanationThe Real Reason You See Earthworms After Rain / Cool Green Science this is somewhat forced and not as convincing as a banal migration.

By the way, some birds trying draw outb. C. Osborne. Foot‑trembling and feeding behavior in the Ringed Plover Charadrius hiaticula / Bird Study worms to the surface, stomping on the ground with their feet. The vibrations created cause those to rise up, where a feathered predator awaits them.