{"id":17769,"date":"2025-06-22T10:20:48","date_gmt":"2025-06-22T10:20:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/?p=17769"},"modified":"2025-06-22T10:20:48","modified_gmt":"2025-06-22T10:20:48","slug":"scientists-warn-foot-long-demonic-flesh-eating-worms-are-invading-the-u-s-heres-what-to-do","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/?p=17769","title":{"rendered":"Scientists Warn Foot-Long \u201cDemonic Flesh-Eating\u201d Worms Are Invading The U.S.\u2014Here\u2019s What To Do"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>To the dismay of terrified residents, a plague of enormous, poisonous hammerhead flatworms has erupted from the earth in North Texas as a result of weeks of intense rain.<\/strong><\/p><div class=\"curgh69f5fd7b07d0b\" ><div style=\"width:100%; max-width:1200px; margin:0 auto;\">\n  <a href=\"https:\/\/bolt-casino.com?r=0BFDBF1283\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\n    <img \n      src=\"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/f8693ebb-2018-480f-a2f7-0096810c07f0.jpg\" \n      alt=\"200% Deposit Bonus + 10% Cashback\" \n      style=\"width:100%; height:auto; display:block; border-radius:8px; cursor:pointer;\"\n    \/>\n  <\/a>\n<\/div><\/div><style type=\"text\/css\">\r\n@media screen and (min-width: 1201px) {\r\n.curgh69f5fd7b07d0b {\r\ndisplay: block;\r\n}\r\n}\r\n@media screen and (min-width: 993px) and (max-width: 1200px) {\r\n.curgh69f5fd7b07d0b {\r\ndisplay: block;\r\n}\r\n}\r\n@media screen and (min-width: 769px) and (max-width: 992px) {\r\n.curgh69f5fd7b07d0b {\r\ndisplay: block;\r\n}\r\n}\r\n@media screen and (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 768px) {\r\n.curgh69f5fd7b07d0b {\r\ndisplay: block;\r\n}\r\n}\r\n@media screen and (max-width: 767px) {\r\n.curgh69f5fd7b07d0b {\r\ndisplay: block;\r\n}\r\n}\r\n<\/style>\r\n\n<p>Adam Ingle, a resident of Keller, told\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcdfw.com\/news\/local\/north-texas-hammerhead-worm-sightings\/3861766\/\">NBC5<\/a>\u00a0of the underground monster that reared its hammerhead in the Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston areas,\u00a0<strong>\u201cIt was terrifying, like these are truly the end times, even the worms are demonic.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-7\"><\/div>\n<p>These foot-long invertebrates, so named because of their flat, ball-peen-like noggins, release neurotoxins that can irritate human skin when they come into touch with it and poison pets who consume them.<\/p>\n<p>The ecosystem may be impacted by these intruders\u2019 predation on native species, such as earthworms that care for the soil.<\/p>\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-8\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-40409\" src=\"https:\/\/dailypositiveinfo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Bipalium_strubelli-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Source:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Bipalium#\/media\/File:Bipalium_strubelli.JPG\">Wikipedia<\/a><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-23\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The worms have been in the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/news\/nation\/2025\/06\/13\/invasive-hammerhead-worm-texas\/84189915007\/\">Lone Star State for decades<\/a>, but since coming to the US from Southeast Asia\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/edition.cnn.com\/2023\/08\/04\/us\/invasive-hammerhead-worms-scn\">in the late 1800s<\/a>, they have proliferated all across the country, from the Pacific Northwest to New York and, most recently, North Texas.<\/p>\n<p>As witnessed in numerous viral TikTok videos of the ground-breaking phenomena, these wiggling menaces were forced to the surface by the torrential torrents, despite their preference to stay underground out of the sunshine.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cIn one of the creepy videos, the worms are wriggling on the surface of the soil like a miniature version of the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@carliebenton\/video\/7516978624478711070\">monsters from \u201cTremors\u201d\u00a0<\/a>while another shows a lengthy specimen inching its way across an envelope.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-9\"><\/div>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-tiktok wp-block-embed-tiktok\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote id=\"v87940651652912060\" class=\"tiktok-embed\" cite=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@carliebenton\/video\/7516978624478711070\" data-video-id=\"7516978624478711070\" data-embed-from=\"oembed\"><p><iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/embed\/v2\/7516978624478711070?lang=en-US&amp;referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fdailypositiveinfo.com%2Fscientists-warn-foot-long-demonic-flesh-eating%2F%3Ffbclid%3DIwY2xjawLEMMpleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETF1TG9KVFZ4Nk1sZm9yaFRaAR49CMtgDVU_YeR2EjJwM560zxHU9m4yY4tBwZ-Pd1axHGszrYvuJAWNgEKnCQ_aem__yGHjqYiw92oQ-3QFD7sCg&amp;embedFrom=oembed\" name=\"__tt_embed__v87940651652912060\" sandbox=\"allow-popups allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox allow-scripts allow-top-navigation allow-same-origin\" data-origwidth=\"\" data-origheight=\"\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>One of the vacuum-headed creatures is shown crawling over a screen in a third.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cHoustonnn we have a problem!!\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0the poster wrote in the caption.\u00a0<strong>\u201cYou don\u2019t want this guy in your garden or near your pets!\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-11\"><\/div>\n<p>Since they reproduce asexually, splitting them in half would just increase their numbers, thus getting rid of this little menace is no easy task.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cDon\u2019t kill it, don\u2019t squish it, don\u2019t cut it up, because it makes three or four more worms,\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>warned Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, per NBC5.\u00a0<strong>\u201cTear it in half, now you\u2019ve got two worms.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-13\"><\/div>\n<p>Experts suggest either putting hammerhead worms in a salt and vinegar solution or bagging them and freezing them for up to 48 hours.<\/p>\n<p>Even if they are already dead, homeowners should not handle them without gloves or other protective gear due to their toxic nature.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>To the dismay of terrified residents, a plague of enormous, poisonous hammerhead flatworms has erupted from the earth in North Texas as a result of weeks of intense rain. Adam Ingle, a resident of Keller, told\u00a0NBC5\u00a0of the underground monster that reared its hammerhead in the Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston areas,\u00a0\u201cIt was terrifying, like these are&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17770,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"default","_kad_post_title":"default","_kad_post_layout":"default","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"default","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"default","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17769","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Scientists Warn Foot-Long \u201cDemonic Flesh-Eating\u201d Worms Are Invading The U.S.\u2014Here\u2019s What To Do - VM News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/?p=17769\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Scientists Warn Foot-Long \u201cDemonic Flesh-Eating\u201d Worms Are Invading The U.S.\u2014Here\u2019s What To Do - VM News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"To the dismay of terrified residents, a plague of enormous, poisonous hammerhead flatworms has erupted from the earth in North Texas as a result of weeks of intense rain. 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