It was a cold late summer evening, the nights were drawing in and Autumn was just around the corner.  As I raked around the coal shed for some dry timber to light a fire, I found what I thought was a piece of fungi, stuck to the side of my hand.  It looked very pretty, coiled like a spring, dark glossy brown with a light tan fringe around its edge.  As I observed it in the dim moonlight, it reflected the light back on its glass like surface.  I wondered what type of fungi it was as I had never seen one like it.  I took a closer look as I was now just about to shake it off in order to go back to my wood collecting, only to find to my horror that it had started moving, uncoiling like something out of the Alien movies.  I panicked and started to try to shake it off, but it would not, so in a panic I pinged it with my finger, only then to find it stuck to my finger.  Eventually it was removed forcefully with a twig and I stared at it intensely as it continued to reveal itself.  What was it?  It was definitely the first that I had ever seen, was it a leech? As it started to extend and extend almost up to 150mm in length, I thought I would bag it, so I did.  The bag sealed I went straight to the computer and did some research, only to find it was a major problem in Scotland, a parasite alien intruder.  It fed on our earthworms and I then quickly realised why as a keen gardener, I had not seen a single worm in the garden since I had purchased the house.  The story continues, but I will keep it short.  THEY NEED TO GO.  In order to preserve the common earthworm, more information on these predators “The New Zealand Flatworm” needs to be made available to everyone, so that they will know how to spot and then dispose of them.  Click the link to view.

Preservation