The Early Lawsuit Gets the Worm

Groups will sue over protections for giant spitting worm

Posted at 10:06 AM on 31 Oct 2007

No Halloween would be complete without an update on the Palouse earthworm, which can grow up to three feet long, spits on predators, and smells like flowers -- even when not in costume. The pinkish-white worm was denied federal endangered-species protection earlier this month on the grounds that the filed request was incomplete and unclear. "This is absurd!" says Steve Paulson, who will join with green groups to sue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over the decision. "This is the same agency that told me that our petition contained more data on this earthworm than any other source. They are playing political games at the giant Palouse earthworm's expense, and we are spitting mad."

sources:  Center for Biological Diversity, The Lewiston Tribune, Associated Press