“I have seen these black snake-like things in/under my carpet for months,” writes Beth in her submission regarding the organisms pictured below. “They seem to be multiplying very quickly. They scared me when I first saw them, but they seem to be more afraid of me. They are very hard to capture and photograph as they quickly hide away. I’m including a picture of two I caught: they’re sort of wound up together and placed on a long letter envelope so you can see their size. Some are small, an inch or two, some much larger. Some have “fishtail” type ends, and their heads/noses are box-like. Very weird stuff! Are they dangerous? And how do I get rid of them? Any help from you is greatly appreciated! Thank you.” Firstly, we want to thank Beth for sending in her submission. This is a very interesting case, and we are glad she thought of us. Secondly, it is true that animals are typically more afraid of us than we are of them. Thirdly, we have to say that we can’t tell from the photo alone what these creatures are. We haven’t seen anything quite like them.

Given their length, color, and the location they were found, we might suggest they are millipedes. Millipedes are neither snakes nor worms, but are arthropods: exoskeletal creatures with legs joined at every segment. They are not dangerous, and the best way to get rid of them is removing them from one’s home and applying preventative measures. Such measures include sealing cracks in walls and floors, removing organic debris from one’s garden (piles of rocks, sticks, and leaves), and keeping one’s home warm and dry. Now, if these were millipedes, then we would conclude that some of the creatures have “box-like” heads and “‘fishtail’ type ends” because they are getting squashed under the carpet. Even if these are not millipedes, then we would say they are likely getting mangled in any case, given that they are living under something people step on.

With that said, it is strange that the worms are still moving as fast as Beth says they are if they are getting stepped on and mangled. This leads us to doubt our identification, and wonder what kind of worms or worm-like creature could withstand such treatment. We thought perhaps they could be hammerhead flatworms, which might describe the box-shaped head, but to find so many, and in this location, would not make sense. Since we cannot provide a confident identification, we cannot guarantee that they are not harmful, or that they can, at the very least, trigger an allergic reaction, so we recommend avoiding physical contact. What we can say is that, given that these worms are tangled up the way they are, we would assume that they are mating. We recommend that she move the worms outside on a dustpan while avoiding physical contact, and that she deep cleans her home. If Beth is set on getting a certain identification, we advise taking samples of the worms to her local county extension office. Likewise, if she is worried about her health in connection to the discovery of these worms, we suggest consulting a medical parasitologist.

To find a medical parasitologist or other health care provider who can actually help, Beth can do one or more of the following:

– Visit our parasite care resources page here: https://www.allaboutworms.com/get-medical-attention-and-tests-for-parasites

– Search for a medical parasitologist in her area using this directory of medical parasitology consultants: https://www.astmh.org/for-astmh-members/clinical-consultants-directory.

– Search for a local parasitologist by doing a Google search for “medical parasitologist (name of the closest big city)” or “tropical medicine specialist (name of the closest big city)”.

To conclude, we are not sure what these black, snake-like worms are underneath Beth’s carpet. Based on the picture, we would not say that they are snake-like, but neither do we think they look like worms, except for their worm-like shape. Even though we could not provide a certain identification, we hope that Beth finds something of use here, and we wish her the very best.

Summary

Article Name

Black Snake-like Organisms Under Carpet Could be Millipedes

Description

"I have seen these black snake-like things in/under my carpet for months," writes Beth in her submission regarding the organisms pictured below. "They seem to be multiplying very quickly. They scared me when I first saw them, but they seem to be more afraid of me. They are very hard to capture and photograph as they quickly hide away. I'm including a picture of two I caught: they're sort of wound up together and placed on a long letter envelope so you can see their size. Some are small, an inch or two, some much larger. Some have "fishtail" type ends, and their heads/noses are box-like. Very weird stuff! Are they dangerous? And how do I get rid of them? Any help from you is greatly appreciated! Thank you." Firstly, we want to thank Beth for sending in her submission. This is a very interesting case, and we are glad she thought of us. Secondly, it is true that animals are typically more afraid of us than we are of them. Thirdly, we have to say that we can't tell from the photo alone what these creatures are. We haven't seen anything quite like them.

Author

Worm Researcher Anton