Worms after the rain

I visited my community garden plot shortly after it stopped raining. As I drove to the garden, I saw hundreds, if not thousands, of worms on the road pavement. I felt bad for them, it was a cold morning and they were getting squished by countless cars. 

As I stepped out of my car, I looked down and there was a big nightcrawler. I went to the garden and found a small bucket, and started following the curb and gutter along and then past the garden. It was littered with slow moving but not dead or squashed worms. I picked one up and dropped it into the bucket. 

Then another, and another.

It's fairly compelling to pick them up - and keep picking them up. There's always one more just a few feet up, and another a few feet further. I had limited time, so I when I arrived at an intersection I turned around and returned on the other side. Here's what I found.

Well-worn worm trails in the sand and small gravel.

"March of the Penguins" got nothing on these slow-moving creatures that were desperate to get out of the approaching (and deadly) sun.

Some of the night-crawlers found escape in pavement cracks like this one, but many other worms were trying to escape to the soil through cracks far smaller than the worms.

I promise this was not a staged photo. "Noooo," I pleaded with the nightcrawler, "Don't jump." Fortunately I was faster than he/she was.

A nice bucket full of worms and nightcrawlers.

I dropped handfulls of worms in each of my garden beds, and covered them with mulch. The mulch would protect them from the sun and keep them moist. Hopefully they'll stay in my garden.