One can also use the pesticide in the carbamate or organophosphate family. Pesticides can be used to get rid of hammerhead worms, the best option being pyrethrum. This helps with disinfecting the container. After getting rid of the hammerhead worm, treat the container with salt and place it in the freezer for 48 hours. After putting the substance in with the worm, allow the hammerhead to dissolve in the solution. To pick up the worm, use gloves or a paper towel to avoid getting any neurotoxins on your skin. The first step in getting rid of these worms is to capture them either in a plastic bag or container.

To get rid of the hammerhead worms, one needs to dissolve them in one of these substances: salt, vinegar, citrus oil, boric acid or soap sprays. If one tries to cut a hammerhead worm, it will regenerate its head, which causes two heads to appear on the hammerhead. There are only certain ways that one can get rid of them. Hammerhead worms are found in humid climates and seem virtually immortal. Hammerhead worms contain the same toxin that is found in pufferfish. If one touches a hammerhead worm, they will release the neurotoxin, which is potentially harmful to the person or animal that touched the worm. Their length can reach up to five inches. They are known for a dark line down the center of their back and their shovel-shaped head. Hammerhead worms glide along the ground like snakes and often are mistaken for one.

This neurotoxin subdues the earthworm, allowing the hammerhead to strike and squeeze the earthworm to death. Shovel-headed garden flatworms track their earthworm prey, and once they catch one, they will release a sticky substance containing a neurotoxin. The “wandering hammerhead worm,” Bipalium vagum, appears to be more of a specialist predator on land mollusks, and so can be a threat – like the New Guinea flatworm – to Florida’s native snails and slugs. According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), the “shovel-headed garden flatworm,” Bipalium kewense, often feeds on earthworms (many of which are also nonnative). Be on the lookout for two kinds of hammerhead flatworms – nonnative, invasive species that need to be taken care of immediately after being seen. As gardeners go into planting season, there is an exotic animal to watch for.

Worm with flat head