This toxic foot-long worm is invading Texas, and it’s pure nightmare fuel

An invasive species of worm is making its home in Texas once more. The hammerhead flatworm is an extremely toxic worm that is hard to kill and has proven extremely dangerous to native earthworms in the area. While they pose little danger to humans or larger animals, experts encourage residents to kill any of these flatworms they find.

The trick here, though, is that you don’t want to touch these creepy crawlers, as they can actually release toxins that can irritate the skin. Spotting these worms shouldn’t be too difficult, either, as they can grow over a foot long. They can also carry parasites, so you’ll want to be careful around them. Another important thing to remember is that cutting them in half can cause both halves to regenerate—leaving you with two worms instead of one.

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A hammerhead worm on a leaf. Image source: midobun2014

News of the invading hammerhead flatworms isn’t exactly new. These worms have invaded Texas before, but they continue to re-emerge as one of the more annoying invasive species, especially following heavy rains after Hurricane Beryl. That’s because the wet and tropical environment caused by those heavy rains has driven many of them back to the surface, as they thrive in those conditions.

In order to harm a human, the worm would need to get its toxin into your eyes or mucus. However, they can still cause irritation on the skin, and experts warn that pets a nd children shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near them as they could accidentally ingest them, exposing themselves to the toxin. The bigger problem lies in the danger they pose to local ecosystems throughout Texas.

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Because these worms are so hard to kill and can reproduce so quickly, they are very invasive. The fact that they carry parasites makes them especially dangerous to animals that might ingest them. They’ve already become quite entrenched in Texas and other states—like California, Florida, Georgia, and Louisiana—and these killer worms have even invaded France in the past, too.

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