Worms covering the bottom of the pool...GROSS!

[frustratedpoolmom]

BB gun?

JK - don't do anything that will get you in trouble with the law.

I had a similar experience....here's a thread from last year....
http://www.troublefreepool.com/birds-t5691.html?hilit=birds

 

[waterbug]

Wow, I musta missed that thread last year!
Maybe we need to get some pool and put spinners on top of them so that something is always moving in the wind above the pool. No trees overhang the pool.

I guess they go away eventually though huh? Meanwhile, I'm vacuuming to waste every day!
thanks for all suggestions......

 

[Ohm_Boy]

I seem to recall that someone had good results stringing some monofilament fishing line over their pool. Not especially close, and not a dense grid or anything. I think that the birds catch a glimpse of it and maybe think its some kind of spider web or something, and they turn tail and abandon.

A few threads up out of reach may take care of it.

 

[waste]

FIELD REPORT:

With this thread recently on my mind, I noticed on 2 pools in the past 2 days worms somehow clinging to the vertical wall above the water level and even on the underside of the coping. They were all small ~1 1/2 - 2" but were alive and wiggling their way along the liner's wall or coping.

Perhaps climbing up the wall of the pool to get into it isn't as far fetched as we would like to think :?:

 

[MikeInTN]

Funny you should mention that Ted. I had to run out early this morning and get some water draining out of my AGP due to the torrential rainfall we had last night/early this morning, and what to my wandering eyes did appear, but some earthworms climbing up the outside of my pool wall. The wall was wet (heck, everything was wet!) and they were clinging to it, inching their way upward. I never would have believed it if I hadn't witnessed it with my own eyes. So yes Virginia, earthworms CAN climb a vertical surface!

 

[TizMe]

Wow , I would have never have thought that either !

 

[lilytouch]

My problem is similar to all. When I open my pool in the spring (Indiana) I find thousands of dead earthworm lying in the bottom of the pool. I personally don´t care how or why they get there. I know that I can vacuum them out. My pool is in the ground and I use a secure mesh cover.
My question is, Does anyone know a barrier to block the path of these non-swimming bathers?

 

[DBfan187]

We opened the pool up to a nice lovely green swamp mess. I knew that would happen. We closed way too early last year and had many days in the mid 80's after we closed. Another lesson learned.

Anyways, I started everything up today, started adding bleach and began brushing and vacuuming to waste.

OMG. I couldn't figure out how I lost suction so fast, so I checked the skimmer (had a sock on the skimmer to catch all the gunk) and it was absolutely FULL of earthworms. *gag* I had to keep emptying it. I couldn't see the bottom of the pool, but it was obviously covered in worms with the amount of them that were adding up in the skimmer each time I emptied it.

Is that normal?!

BTW...by this evening, the pool is a decent shade of blue. It's not clear, but it's not green either, so I know I'm headed in the right direction. I'm still concerned about the worms though. We do get a lot of earthworms on our porch and yard, but would they actually climb up the pool wall into the pool (it's an ABG pool)?

 

[waste]

Lily, welcome to TFP!!

I understand that DE (diatomatous earth) will kill bugs with exoskeletons and might work for worms, which also breath through their skin. I doubt the mechanism of death would be the same, but it might be worth sprinkling a little DE around the pool

 

[pinkladydi]

just googled DE, DE will NOT harm earth worms

 

[ultra800_96]

AAAAAAAAh ha........we caught the bird. Big old blackbird dumped a load into the pool whle someone was watching.....guess that is where the "poops and worms" are coming from.
so, how can i persuade the blackbirds to move along???

I have this problem every year with the grackles. It is evidently instinct that wants them to find water to dump their loads in. They'll even carry babies that die. I've had two in the pool & one on the deck this year, but the babies are growing now so the load has greatly decreased. Some evenings I sit out with my bb gun, this helps, also clapping my hands, they are usually persuaded to keep their flight going to my neighbors pool, lol.

 

[waste]

just googled DE, DE will NOT harm earth worms

Well, I guess my guess was wrong