Canadian Nightcrawlers

[bugmankeith]

If given the right conditions/habitat, could Canadian nightcrawlers live in the U.S.?

Reason I ask is last year my cousins came over (they like to fish) and they brought over a tub of Canadian Nightcrawlers, but left the tub open and forgot about it so the worms escaped into my yard garden. The garden is in the shade and is lined with rocks and dead leaves and gets plenty of water, perfect for worms to live in.

This year doing gardening i'm finding these gigantic worms, and not just one but at least 5, all in the month of April. They have that greenish tint to them like the nightcrawlers, and smell like the tub they came in, that distinct smelly odor. I also noticed huge proportions of baby worms this year, between 30-40 sometimes under a single rock, and when there are alot of babies, there is always one giant worm close by. The buggers are hard to catch and instantly slip through their worm hole in the grass.

Previous years I could barely find 10 worms in a day, i'm literally finding 50 or more a day now, some monster size!

Could some of these be canadian nightcrawlers? Do they usually have alot of offspring? The weather here is still cold, and coming from canada I would imagine they thrive in cold climates and dont do well in hot climates. We get a little of both

 

[Bayushi]

you are aware that there isn't a difference between night crawlers in the US and the ones from Canada? they are both the exact same species of worm(Lumbricus terrestris).

 

[bugmankeith]

I thought the difference was the habitat they live in. Every place I read about night crawlers said they cant tolerate warm weather and will die of they get too warm, hence why they are kept refrigerated.

I've never seen earthworm farms keep them in the fridge?

Well whatever they are, their doing a GREAT job at making good quality soil.

 

[Bayushi]

the funny thing about night crawlers is they aren't even a native species to North America. they were introduced from Europe. you have to ask exactly what was running thru the heads of the people who brought them over. I always picture it as this:
Guy#1- I say we bring these big worms with us.
Guy#2- why?
Guy#1- what if the new world doesn't have decent fish bait? if we bring some big worms at least we'll be able to fish. Besides if the new world does have worms we can always turn the ones we bring with us loose. I mean what harm can it do, right?