Carnivorous worm?

Question

Last night I saw this very odd worm. It was very long and thin, and its head was a sort of rounded triangular shape. It was brown with black lines down its back. It moved quickly, because ahead of it was a worm that was only a 10th of its length. The smaller worm tried to get away, but it seemed like the hunter was sniffing it out. It bit the smaller worm and held on tight as it wriggled about, and then constricted it. It left the worm in its constrictions and did nothing with its head except explore as far as it could go without changing the position of the rest of its body. It was completely digesting its food with its stomach- it didn’t chew it up and swallow or take big bites and then swallow...it didn't use its head, that's for sure. It slowly slithered off with a fuller stomach with a dark line in its back where you could see where its prey was in its body, and there was nothing left on the ground of the small worm. What was the hunter worm? I live in Texas btw

this was NOT a snake- there were no scales, and no eyes. it had a slimy (not dry and smooth) body like a worm. if it were anything other than a worm, it would be amphibian

also, the head was triangular, like i said, but you have to understand it looked like a large triangle had been added to a normal worm body

not repitilian at all. It had a slimy little worm body, and there were no scales and no eyes. The triangular head I mentioned looked like it had been placed on a worm's body, so it wasn't just like the normal worm who's head just comes to a point. It's underside as I recall I think was a whiter color than it's brown upperside. It had to have been 8"+ in length and an 1/8" in width.

Answer 1

It is a worm and not a snake. It is called a shovel headed garden worm and eats other worms. The reason the head appears to do nothing is because it can't do anything. According to this article I found, "The mouth, which also serves as the anus, is found near the middle of the body on the lower, or ventral, side." "Shovel-headed Garden Worms are carnivorous, feeding on earthworms, insects and insect larvae, and young snails and slugs. They detect their prey using chemical receptors found in a pit on the underside of the head." This is why the prey worm just disappeared. Here is a pic and the article.
http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images/view?back=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.search.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%2Fimages%3F_adv_prop%3Dimage%26fr%3Dyfp-t-471%26va%3Dshovel%2Bheaded%2Bgarden%2Bworm%26sz%3Dall&w=220&h=202&imgurl=www.amonline.net.au%2Ffactsheets%2Fimages%2Fshovelheaded_worm.jpg&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amonline.net.au%2Ffactsheets%2Fshovelworm.htm&size=17.4kB&name=shovelheaded_worm.jpg&p=shovel+headed+garden+worm&type=jpeg&no=1&tt=1&oid=5a2cb68bcc8d40c0&ei=ISO-8859-1

Answer 2

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
Carnivorous worm?
Last night I saw this very odd worm. It was very long and thin, and its head was a sort of rounded triangular shape. It was brown with black lines down its back. It moved quickly, because ahead of it was a worm that was only a 10th of its length. The smaller worm tried to get away, but it...

Answer 3

This sounds like the same worm I asked about today too. It is a shovel headed garden worm, or land planarian. I posted a picture of mine on this website: http://davesgarden.com/bf/go/1839/
This website also gives information about this worm and you can report your finding.

Answer 4

I hope this doesn't freak you too much but it sounds like you observed a small snake rather than a worm, especially by the identification of the color, etc.

There are smaller thin worms that crawl out from the ground at night where I live and the next day, of course, they are dead because they can't live out of dirt. I wish I knew why they even bother to crawl out It creates a nasty mess on the sidewalk.

But, what you just described sounds very much like a garden snake. Harmless to humans but kills insects, etc.

Hey, Texas is my favorite state.

Answer 5

their are some worms that are very long with very sharp teeth the have rows of them but i do not know if this is what you saw it was probably a snake

Answer 6

Lol ... I am no expert but your "hunter worm" sounds awfully much like a small snake!!

Answer 7

http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/caer/ce/eek/critter/reptile/glasslizard.htm
Could this have been what you saw.? It is a legless lizard. There are similar types in other parts of the country. I believe you didn't see the eyes because of the markings. it can be easy to miss them in dim light.

There are eastern and western, and the western one has territory in a little ove half of Texas.

Answer 8

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