Endangered Giant Sweet-Smelling, Spitting Worm

(Spokane, Washington) Biology activists have petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service requesting that the giant Palouse earthworm be given protection under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).


Giant Palouse Earthworm (Driloleirus americanus)
The three-foot-long, sweet-smelling, spitting, albino worm has only been seen four times since its discovery in 1897.

"The giant Palouse earthworm is critically endangered and needs the protection of the Endangered Species Act to have any chance of survival," said Noah Greenwald of the Center for Biological Diversity.

The center filed the lawsuit along with Friends of the Clearwater, Palouse Prairie Foundation, Palouse Audubon and Palouse Group of Sierra Club.

Excuse me for taking a contrary view but if the worm has only been seen four times in over a century, I suggest that insufficient data have been collected to determine whether the species is threatened or thriving.