Today I have decided to write my hub on the Giant Gippsland Earthworm or Megascolides Australis.  This is because I have recently been stomping on this worm's territory - on my way to Wilson's Prom last week.  Not many people know about these massive earthworms as they are only found in a tiny part of the state of Victoria in Australia - the Bass Valley.

They look like regular earthworms - a blue grey colour with a purple head but they grow to between two and three meters in length (10 feet).  The longest worm ever measured has been a whopping four meters long.  They are about 2 cm or 3/4 inch thick.

There are around 1000 species of earthworms that are native to Australia and this giant worm is just one of them.

These giant worms need water to survive and so they are often to be found living in the clayey soil under river and stream banks.  They won't come to the surface.  If you walk on the ground where there are worms you will hear them making a squelching sound.  This is the sound of their bodies against their tunnels as they move.  Watch the fascinating video to hear this amazing sound.

Sadly the Giant Gippsland Earthworm is now an endangered species.  Like all earthworms these worms do a fantastic job of keeping soil healthy by decomposing organic material, improving soil structure and recycling plant nutrients.  Unfortunately the use of pesticides and herbicides in modern farming has killed off many of these worms as most of these chemicals, which seep into the soil, are toxic to the worm.

Soil disturbance through agriculture and the compacting of soil from herds of animals is also detrimental to the worm.

The habitat of these worms is very specific - clay soils along stream banks, ideally on south or west facing hills.  So as well as being threatened by agricultural practices, the worm is now though to be at risk of climate change too.  Recent surveys of southern Gippsland have shown the worm to be restricted to an area of about 40 square miles or 100 square kilometers.

When the giant worm was first discovered in 1878 it caused quite a lot of excitement and large numbers of these worms were dug up.  Unfortunately they are very delicate creatures and their skin is easily damaged by being handled.  Quite often they will die a few weeks after they have been touched - I really hope this is not the case with the one David Attenborough is dealing with in the video.  He is very gentle with it though so I am sure it will be fine.

We know very little about the behavior of this worm.  It can take up to 5 years to reach maturity - and some have speculated that it can live for 20 years but really we have no idea how long it lives for.  Like other worms it is a hermaphrodite.  You can see my hub on Isabella Rossellini to find out exactly how earthworms mate, and to have a laugh.  They produce massive egg cocoons - about the size of a wine bottle cork - which they lay in their burrows.  These take up to a year to hatch and the baby worm will be about 20cm long when it emerges.

Conservation of this worm is clearly difficult and relies on the cooperation of private landowners and farmers who would need to retain natural vegetation alongside streams and to fence off worm habitats to keep animals away.  The giant worm has become part of the folklore of the area though and many landowners are proud to have them on their properties.

In the town of Bass there is a Giant Earthworm Museum.  It takes the form of a 100 m worm like structure.  The visitor can crawl through a magnified worm burrow and walk through a simulated worm's stomach!  Great fun for kids.

My hub on Making a Worm Farm may interest you if you would like to make use of these fabulous creatures to make lovely compost for your garden.