Kamloops woman makes wriggling discovery in local creek

An outdoor enthusiast in Kamloops made a creepy crawly discovery earlier this week while with her family at a Kamloops creek. Danielle Vanderhorst found Jaimeson Creek — a popular place in Kamloops to visit and cool off with access point from Westsyde Road — full of long, skinny, wriggling worms, Aug. 3, a species she hadn’t seen before. “I was playing in the water like I always do and this hair-like thing swam by me and I thought it was my hair but then I looked again and it was essentially slithering through the water like a snake,” she said. “I got freaked out and flicked it out of the water and it flopped around like a fish out of water.” Vanderhorst posted a photo of the worm on social media prompting comments of horror and surprise. “There were numerous ones in there, they’re really vile,” she said. Horsehair or gordian worms are long, thin invertebrates that are so skinny they look like horse hairs, according to Encyclopedia.com https://www.encyclopedia.com/science/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/horsehair-worms-0 . There are roughly 110 species spread worldwide with most species found in fresh water of all kinds, but tend to live in slower moving water.  The worms can be seen in tangles during the spring breeding season appearing like Gordian knots a knot designed by King Gordius of Phrygia that couldn’t be untied. READ MORE: 'Perfect storm': Mosquito population explodes in Kamloops, Okanagan https://infotel.ca/newsitem/perfect-storm-mosquito-population-explodes-in-kamloops-okanagan/it106086 The males die after impregnating the females, which lay stringy egg masses before they also die. The larva will get into various kinds of insects they feed on as they become adults, and those infected insects that fall into water will allow a continuation of the worms’ lifecycle. Adult worms can grow up to 70 centimetres long and have a mouth at one end and vent at the other. To contact a reporter for this story, email Shannon Ainslie mailto:sainslie@infonews.ca  or call 250-819-6089 or email the editor mailto:news@infonews.ca . You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom mailto:tips@infonews.ca  and be entered to win a monthly prize draw. We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above. SUBSCRIBE to our awesome newsletter here https://infotel.ca/newsletter .