Break Out The Champagne!!!

Please welcome into the world this transparent and healthy baby boy-girl. Weighing in at absolutely nothing, this champion breed Peruvian Llama Worm was found crawling over the Department of The Elderly's phone number. As you can see (right through him) she has already been feeding! Presumably he-she was born with several hungry brother-sisters who eluded my watchful eye.

Birds and Bees

It has been almost an entire, long, patience-testing week since I agreed to let-the-worms-be for a while. Today, I resisted the temptation to feed them yet again, and so decided to try and catch them mid-coitus instead. That's not too invasive, right? Alas, I was unable to observe any hot peruvian llama worm hermaphrodite action (believe me, there would be video if I did). I did however find the next best thing; evidence! If I am not mistaken, that is a cocoon.

This just in: I have received confirmation from those-in-the-know. My worms have indeed being getting down.

I am ecstatic to report that the green-beans are gone, and the carrots don't look like they will last much longer! These little guys seem to be settling in just fine. Yesterday, against my better judgment, I fed them some beetroot leaves. I have gotten some advice from those in the know and I have decided to let things be for awhile. I am hoping peruvian llama manure worms are as prolific as their mundane brethren. Maybe one day I can start a champion breed line! I'm sure it won't be long before my bin is devouring all of our kitchen scraps and junk mail.

One week later

Well, the worms seem happy. They have devoured the cucumber peels I fed them on the first night. I also gave them honey glazed carrots and green-beans (I like to spoil them) but they haven't gotten through all that food quite yet. This picture is of the carrots when they were fresh - you wouldn't want to see them as they are now. As gross as they look, the bin doesn't smell at all. Well, maybe there is a hint of wet paper with touch of llama manure - it's quite pleasant actually.

Enter the Peruvian Llama Manure Worm

Weighing in at 1.75 oz, these peruvian llama manure worms came from, well, llama manure. Hurley (my canine companion) and I herd sheep on the weekends. That is to say Hurley herds sheep; I mostly run around looking silly and falling-over into sheep dung. There is a rather ornery old llama on the farm, there to protect the sheep from coyotes. Somehow I managed to convince my herding instructor that if she would just look in the llama manure I was sure we would find some red wrigglers (no way the llama was letting me dig through his poop). Sure enough, we (she) uncovered a worm metropolis. Trooper that she is, my instructor secured as many of the lil' guys as my paper cup would hold. After I got them home and sorted the manure from the worms this is a picture of what was left. Cute, huh?