I was at work and noticed a worm in a puddle and wondered if it could drown or what? .....
2007-06-06 00:22:01 · 11 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Zoology
Of course i saved it!
2007-06-06 00:48:58 · update #1
I think it would drown...poor worm.
I hope you saved it?
Lol
2007-06-06 00:24:34 · answer #1 · answered by MARK C 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
No, worms don't drown as they have no lungs; they breath via gas diffusion through special organs in their skin and, according to various Zoology professors, can live for long periods of time underwater. In fact their skin needs to be moist in order for this diffusion to take place (the same as the air sacs in our lungs). Darwin once noted, however, that a large number of dead worms could be seen above ground after heavy rain, especially rain succeeding a long spell of dry weather. His belief was that these worms were probably already sick and their deaths were hastened by the ground being soaked. If you've ever watched a worm, you will have noticed just how fast they're able to move. A puddle doesn't form instantly, so a healthy worm would move pretty quickly if it wanted to get away from a growing puddle. Likewise, if it didn't want to get into a puddle, it would move around it. (Hope you follow my logic!). Well done for doing what seemed like a good deed though! By the way, worms usually only come above ground at night due to the fact that they're prone to dehydration, the only exception is when it does rain as that danger is then removed. (But they forget about them there birds!).
2007-06-06 00:37:26 · answer #2 · answered by uknative 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
When it rains a worm will surface to see what the noise is, then they will get swept along with the tide and end up on a hard surface like a road or a path and the moving water will keep them moving but they will be dead through drowning.
2016-05-17 23:05:20 · answer #3 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
yes they can drown in puddles. Birds catch worms by tapping on the ground imitating rainfall and the worms come up to the surface so they don't drown.
2007-06-06 00:34:06 · answer #4 · answered by lynsey m 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Did you at least try to save the worm? Or did you walk heartlessy by and turn your head from that poor creatures plight. Shame on you.
2007-06-06 00:34:05 · answer #5 · answered by #+%? 3 · 1⤊ 2⤋
Yes. They absorb oxygen through their skin and cannot do that when they are under water. It is not drowning as we know it, but it is fatal nevertheless.
2007-06-06 01:18:36 · answer #6 · answered by Sandy G 6 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Apparently they can, as they always vacate their holes during a heavy rain, when they get flooded out.
2007-06-06 00:30:37 · answer #7 · answered by Beau R 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i dont know but i always pick them up and put them back on the grass if i see one on the pavement
2007-06-06 00:24:51 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
They most certainly can - it may have been a cry for help , good for you
2007-06-06 08:04:22 · answer #9 · answered by chillipope 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
no they don't
2007-06-06 00:31:39 · answer #10 · answered by Claudine P 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋