Question from the Gutter

May 27, 2010 at 11:57 am 9 comments

….literally.

Not a question about gutters, but a question literally from the gutter.

I cleaned my gutters out today (getting ready for our annual church picnic this Sunday and then Ashley’s open house), especially since those pesky maple leaf “helicopter” seeds filled them up.

While cleaning out one particular gutter, I noticed a lot of dirt. I tried to figure out how that got there. Then I saw an earthworm.

Okaaaaay……how in the world did an earthworm get up in the gutter?

I’m taking suggestions. The winner (i.e. the most likely answer, ’cause I have absolutely no clue how it got there) gets an undetermined prize [heh heh]! 🙂

Entry filed under: Dan, The Farm.

Country Mailboxes Question on the Fly

9 Comments Add your own

1. nana | May 27, 2010 at 2:55 pm

Josiah put it in a tree and it flew down into the gutter (as a teeny tiny baby earthworm) on a maple tree “helicopter”!??? But how did the dirt get there??? Josiah???……….Was this a two part mystery?
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2. Barbara Greene | May 27, 2010 at 4:20 pm

Maybe a robin dropped it while flying overhead.
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3. Dan Greenfield | May 27, 2010 at 4:23 pm

Trisha’s theory on the dirt—the wind blows it around, it lands on the roof, and when it rains it goes into the gutter. The worm’s more of a mystery to me!
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4. Dale Folks | May 27, 2010 at 8:15 pm

Could it be that someone came all the way from Belleville and you were not at home and put some dirt along with the worm in your gutter to give you something to talk about?????
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5. nana | May 27, 2010 at 9:30 pm

Barbara probably wins the prize for the worm mystery and Trish should win the prize for the dirt mystery! I lose…..Don’t tell me what the prize was.
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6. Barbara Greene | May 27, 2010 at 10:03 pm

Thanks. And how did you know that I love hot fudge sundays? LOL
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7. David & Laurel Ring | May 27, 2010 at 10:07 pm

Well, the “dirt” was the leaves from the maple tree that end up in the gutter. The worm digests the leaves, leaving you with some nice “dirt” (aka worm castings).
Now where did the worm come from? That is a mystery, but David suggested that a robin only ate part of the worm, and the rest was deposited in the gutter growing again into a full grown worm! Whala! (or however that is spelled.)
That is our theory.
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8. nana | May 28, 2010 at 6:19 am

OK. Now I think David and Laurel are the winners. Sorry Barbara–no hot fudge sundae 😦 BTW. I have absolutely NO authority to be a judge on Dan’s blog. I’m only the mother-in-law….(and proud of it!!)
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9. bj | May 28, 2010 at 11:20 am

I agree with the Rings. The organic matter filling up your gutters composts becoming dirt, regardless of an earthworm. There are other bugs that also help this process, but the earthworm REALLY helps speed the process. It could have inched up the drain pipes, I have seen that. All it needs is a little dirty drain pipe to give traction. But, more than likely, fell from a bird’s mouth. If you cut off an earthworm in the right area, it will grow that part back. So, where’s our prize? ha ha
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