It’s raining (again). It’s been raining for day upon endless day in Minnesota. Well, except for last weekend. We had a nice weekend.
Before today I was at 6+ inches for the month. I emptied about 1″ out of my rain gauge this morning and there is no end in sight
So, is it my imagination, or can I really smell the worms? Even when I walk outside, there is this humid wormlike smell to the air. I swear to Heaven above that I am accurate in my olfactory. It is the worms I smell.
To further prove my point, I have driven my car two times today. I try to avoid the thousands of outstretched bodies on the road. I swerve like a maniac trying to avoid their helplessness, all the while thinking of that movie where Brad Pitt is in some Buddhist village trying to build a shrine (or something) and the workers can’t do the work because they can’t kill any worms.
What in Buddha’s name would a Buddhist do on a day like today? Driving in a car? Driving over thousands of worms?
It would truly be a moral dilemma.
After all, it’s a dilemma even for me. And I’m just a gardener.
And then I park my car in my garage and go inside.
Then I go back in my garage to get in my car and I almost keel over. It’s that same smell as outside, only ten times stronger:
Worms!
And I imagine I am smelling all the worm guts in the tire treads and thrown up on the undercarriage and spewn all over the exterior of the car. (I know that’s gross, but it makes sense, doesn’t it?)
It’s worms I smell.
Norma says
Hi, I asked the question and two replied that it was the bacteria in the earth that I smelled and that it is associated with earthworms because their bodies are covered with it as well as the earth they dig up when it rains. Lots and lots of earthworms come up when/after it rains. I remember as a kid we would hunt for them after a rain and give them to my friends dad to use as fish bait.
Hope this helps.
Sam says
This video will give you your answers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGcE5x8s0B8
jenmenke says
you are so funny. I just watched it. Hee-larious! I so wish they would have actually brought up WORMS, but I’ll settle for Petrichlor… did I spell that right?
Casey says
I swear it’s the worms. The petrichor they’re describing is something of a different smell. Normally this scent is pleasant. The stuff i’m talking about is somewhat of a sweaty dog stench, and there are thousands of worms on the roads and sidewalks. YUCK!
Shannon says
Yes! I can definitely smell worms! Here’s a question: do you ever smell that same smell if you leave water in a glass for a while, then go to drink it. Ew
admin says
Ick Shannon!! haha. I think I know what you mean though. Next time open a water bottle that got left in the car I will approach it with worms in mind and see if I see the similarity!
I don't like petrichor says
Just found your blogpost today after trying to explain to someone else that petrichor smells like worms.
zombi2 says
My family doesn’t believe me when I tell them I can smell worms. I don’t know why it’s so implausible. It isn’t minerals in the soil and really that can only be an assumption. If they can’t experience the smell that I do then they can only guess what it is, but I digress. It’s definitely worm skin.
It’s similar to maggots. Neither are very strong scents but they are distinctive. I was at least able to prove to my boss who kinda scoffed when I said I could smell maggots. Right before an inspection at the seafood plant we work at I told him I smelled maggots around my station. After looking everywhere and finding nothing, I insisted, we bet money on it, and he had a forklift pull our huge tote scale out and sure enough a flatfish had slipped behind it and was covered in maggots. After that he always had me walk an area when we were gonna have inspectors coming in just to make sure there were no surprises like that.
zombi2 says
@shannon
No, I’ve always equated that smell with a fishtank. Worms are very distinctive. The only other place I’ve smelled them is on (in?) dogs.
Deb says
Every time I smell that putrid smell I wanna throw up. I to believe it’s the smell worms! I noticed sometimes it’s only in some places which is impossible if it was the smell of rain. As driving a school bus I’d notice I would smell it more where there were ditches and it had rained previously. My theory is they drowned in the water in the ditch, they say they come out of the ground because they would drown if they don’t. No way is that smell of rain they talk about it’s disgusting and you only smell it on some roads and you could go down the road a bit and it’s gone. It doesn’t make sense and instinctively I knew it was worms like you I knew right away what the smell was and I have no idea why.
Sherri C says
Wow, just reading this after debating that petichor is NOT the same as the horrible worm smell after a BIG rain when the worms surface! Petichor is stated as pleasant and that on,y comes after a light rain and is a nice smell. You are not crazy. I just wish everyone believed me that worms Are part of the smell, or at least harbingers of the smell,
Portia says
Petrichor is caused by rain hitting dry soil which sprays bacteria and plant oils into the air. Although the smell is unmistakable, it varies slightly by region due to differences in foliage & climate.
Earthworms smell nothing like petrichor (they have a heavy smell that reminds me a little of a swamp), and always smell the same, even when the sun is shining or they’ve been raised indoors.
(I recently had a similar discussion with someone about ants, I’d always thought everyone could smell them but apparently I’m just one of the lucky ones.)
Nate says
Yes! I smell the worms. Not the rain or soil or petrichor. It’s the worms themselves. Not every rainy day but on the worm days it very apparent.
Tracy Bechard says
I’m totally with you on this. I can smell worms too. Dead ones. Always have.
Chrissa Campbell says
I am with you… I definitely smell dead worms after hard storms- they smell putrid and metallic. It is not the same nice earthy scent I smell, called petrichor, that comes from geosmin, after a light rain. However, some people are not sensitive to the odor of dead earth worms and they will never be able to relate. Lucky for them!
Alice says
I think we need to start a support group. I was just mocked by my family for saying that worms have a distinct smell when they are unearthed by a rain. I know what they are talking about when they describe the pleasant after-rain smell. When worms are covering the sidewalks, there is that smell PLUS something less pleasant.