Have you looked closely at your garden soil? There might be a war raging—a war of the worms.

Earthworms might seem gross. However, they play an important role in the soil. They clean the dirt. They break down organic matter into nutrients. Those feed plants. Their tunnels help make space for roots to grow. They even remove harmful fungi.

But there’s another worm squirming in the ground. It’s toxic. It’s nearly impossible to kill. And it eats earthworms along with snails and slugs.

Meet the hammerhead worm. As the name suggests, it has a wide head like a hammerhead shark. It also has a striped, snake-like body. These worms are usually just two or three inches long. But some grow up to 15 inches. 

They’re also invasive in the United States. They originally come from Southeast Asia. They likely crossed the ocean in 1900 with a shipment of plants. Invasive species like hammerhead worms don’t have natural predators. So they spread quickly. That’s bad news for gardens.

Hammerhead worm skin contains a neurotoxin. It’s the same poisonous stuff that’s found in pufferfish. It can paralyze smaller animals. That helps prevent birds and insects from eating these worms. If you touch one, it wouldn’t kill you. But it might irritate your skin.

What if a hungry creature does chow down on a hammerhead worm? Then the worm reveals another nasty surprise. Its body contains nematodes. These tiny parasites can infest humans, insects, and other animals.

Hammerhead worms reproduce by themselves. They don’t need mates to multiply. And they can detach their own rear ends! They leave their behinds behind on plants. The abandoned posteriors grow into new worms.

That’s another reason why hammerhead worms are so hard to kill. You can’t just chop them up. If you do, each piece becomes its own worm!

So how do you get rid of hammerhead worms? Some gardeners suggest pouring vinegar on them. Others say you should put them in a Ziploc bag full of salt. Then throw away the whole bag—just to be safe.

Sin can be a lot like a hammerhead worm. It looks small, but it can cause big problems. And no matter how hard we work to get rid of it, it doesn’t go away. But there’s good news. We have a Savior who takes away our sin. With Jesus, our lives can be like healthy gardens growing good fruit.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. — Galatians 5:22-23