“Can horsehair worms be killed or exterminated by spraying them with a vinegar mixture?” asks Tom in his submission. “Thank you.” Now, he does not send any photos of any worms, so we assume he is asking as he is generally curious. To answer his question, yes, it is possible to kill horsehair worm eggs with a vinegar mixture, though we do not know how effective it is against the adult worms. With that said, we do not recommend killing horsehair worms, as they are harmless to humans and pets.

Recently we received a query about a “bug/parasite/worm” that one of our readers in Iowa captured, who went on to elaborate that there are “actually […] two different ones.” The first photograph looks to be some kind of pink creature, with long appendages that snake out from the main body, and the second image showcases what looks to be a tangle of dark brown/black colored worms.