LEWISTON, Idaho (AP) - Spring showers appear to have brought out the rare giant Palouse earthworm, a creature native to the Palouse Prairie that can grow up to a meter long.
The Lewiston Tribune reports that earthworm enthusiast Cass Davis of Moscow found three specimens of what he believes to be the giant earthworm last weekend while hiking along Paradise Ridge Road.
University of Idaho researchers will need to do genetic analysis to confirm the species but believe Davis has found giant Palouse earthworms.
Davis says the worms rose to the surface or washed out onto the road right after recent thunderstorms.
The unusual worms were once thought to be extinct until a UI researcher found one in 2005. The worm had not been seen since 1988.
