Date Time
Invasive jumping worms leap into Oregon
CORVALLIS, Ore. – Jumping worms, a not-so-nice pest that arrived in the United States in the 1920s as fishing bait and as hitchhikers on imported plants and soils, have vaulted into gardens and nurseries up and down the Willamette Valley corridor.
Unlike beneficial earthworms and nightcrawlers that burrow deep tunnels in the soil, aerating and releasing nutrients as they go, jumping worms stay in the debris on top and eat two to three times the amount of leaf litter as the other worms, according to Sam Chan, Oregon State University Sea Grant Extension watershed health and aquatic invasive species specialist.
July 02, 2021 CORVALLIS, Ore. – Jumping worms, a not-so-nice pest that arrived in the United States in the 1920s as fishing bait and as hitchhikers on imported plants and soils, have vaulted into gardens and nurseries up and down the Willamette Valley corridor. Unlike beneficial earthworms and nightcrawlers that burrow deep tunnels in the soil, aerating and releasing nutrients as they go, jumping worms stay in the debris on top and eat two to three times the amount of leaf litter as the other worms, according to Sam Chan, Oregon State University Sea Grant Extension watershed health and aquatic invasive species specialist.
Pet store chains pull aquarium plant infested with invasive zebra mussels
ODFW
ODFW offers how-to video on cleaning aquarium, removing moss balls
PORTLAND, Ore. (KTVZ) Pet store chains, including Petco and PetSmart, have removed “Betta Buddy Marimo Ball,” a moss plant for aquariums, from their shelves after invasive zebra mussels were discovered inside, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife said Tuesday.
ODFW district staff are contacting other local businesses carrying pet products to determine if they sold or are selling these products.
“We want to thank all pet and aquarium supply stores who have stepped up and quickly taken this product off their shelves,” said Rick Boatner, ODFW Invasive Species Program Supervisor and current chairman of the Oregon Invasive Species Council, a statewide effort among many natural resource agencies to keep invasive species out of Oregon.