Question
every morning the last week or so, i have hundreds of dead earthworms on my side walk in front of house.   it is only my house affected in the neighborhood.  at the end of my property, there are very, very few.  should i be alarmed?   they range in size from 1" to 3" and die on the concrete in the sun.  

Answer
Hi John M,


In any neighborhood housing area, the population of earthworms per lot can vary tremendously depending upon the history of each lot's lawn and soil care.  Some people work hard to keep their top-soil highly fertile, and these lots will have more worms per cubic foot of top-soil than other lots less tended. Lawns that are rarely watered may have nearly zero worm populations. So, the fact that your neighbors do not have the same situation as you does not necessarily indicate anything diagnostic.

In general a lot of earthworms in the root-zone is a very desirable thing since these work 24/7 to till and aerate the soil as well as add to the soil's fertility. Some people actually purchase earthworms by the pound to ADD to the top-soil in order to obtain all the benefits these creatures supply.

Earthworms, like anything that lives, can become infected with various disease-causing microbes and viruses.  This may be one explanation of the exodus and mass deaths you see on the walk-ways.  However, a more common explanation is when the soil becomes hyper-saturated with over-watering or rains.  When this happens, the earthworms start to drown in the root-zone so they will crawl-out onto the side-walks to get air.

It is also  possible that you have added some sort of lawn chemical or pesticide to the area that is toxic to the earthworms.

At any rate, I do not think you need to be too concerned.  Usually, the birds will find the worms and in a few days, and they will work to clean-up the situation some what.  The worms should have many eggs left behind in the soil to re-establish the population and beneficial ecology eventually.
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With a good fertile-loamy well draining top-soil, best quality hybrid grass type(s), 1-3 inches of water per week, plenty of sun-light, ...almost anyone can have an excellent lawn with a minimum maintenance effort.
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I Hope this has answered your question(s)!

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___ Jim Gibbs,
    Microbiologist/Botanist