Right when North Texas was in the middle of the pandemic, we were introduced to the terror of murder hornets.
We were able to escape the murder hornets without too much trouble, but now North Texans are faced with another unholy terror: Hammerhead flatworms.
Ashley Morgan-Olvera is the research director at the Texas Invasive Species Institute, and first posted about these strange worms that showed up in her backyard, and explained that they actually can be toxic towards your pets and even other humans.
Morgan-Olvera told WFAA, "The way this flatworm harms our ecosystem is it eats earthworms, which are necessary for our forests, our crops...our gardens to survive. In order for it to digest earthworms, it secretes a chemical, or a neurotoxin, and that can cause an allergic reaction on your skin if you’re handling it."
Morgan-Olvera reccommends that if you encounter a flatworm in your backyard, do not just ignore it. Grab a stick, gloves or paper towel and place it in a sealed bag with salt and/or vinegar, and proceed to freeze them overnight in order to properly dispose of them.