Hi dvdnj; Can you post a picture of them with a ruler to gage the size. I can think of two species they might be one is Lumbricus rubellus(red marsh worm/angle worm) the other common worm is Lumbricus terrestris (Canadian Nightcrawler, North American Nightcrawler,Dew worm). Young Nightcrawlers and older fatter angle worms are similar in appearence right down to the tail being flatened somewhat.

lkittle, thank you. -- I think at one time someone said I would need access to a posting site to attach a picture. Is that correct? I do not have a web-page. Is there any other way? If not, can you send me a link to a site that may have images of those that you think they may be and I can compare. I'd say, off hand, they average about 6-8" -- thicker than a 'standard earthworm', but not as thick as what I have referred to as a 'nightcrawler'. The slightest activity gets them VERY wiggly -- but not like 'standard earthworms' that seem to try to bury under to get away, or curl up -- they remind me more like the way a snake would re-act. Again, very different than what I am accustomed to seeing in my compost piles. Thanks for your help!

DVD, there are a number of free picture hosting sites, check out flickr.com, fotki.com or just google free photo hosting.

For posting a pic or two, imgur.com is probably the simplest. No need to sign up or register, just upload the photo and send the link.

Red Wigglers can have quite a shine to them in the right light, usually purplish or greenish. They can react pretty strongly when disturbed, curling into a circle and then uncurling to almost hop. That's why they're called Red WIGGLERS.

Here is a link that might be useful: http://imgur.com/

Thank you all!! Mystery solved! I had never picked one up until you guys requested a pic. Now I realize that the iridescence, fluorescent 'glow' was as Wormy-Acres stated; due to the way the light hit -- once I picked them up, the fluorescence disappeared when the slime dried up! Prior they had been moving so fast I had thought the iridescence was actually in the color of the worm, and not its slime. (like my title stated: a newbie!!) I had never seen worms quite so iridescent before (the image is from an inexpensive camera and didn't quite capture the fluorescence very well) and so many of them to boot, (piles of glowing worms!) so it was quite intriguing! Thanks a bunch for all your suggestions and thoughts!

Here is a link that might be useful:

Hi dvdnj; The pic posted does resolve the question to some degree. It is probibly a Lr. the size is right and the red translucent skin is right and the yellow/orange clitellum is right. Red wigglers have a yellow tail tip and some Eisenia fetida for instance a yellow ring in each segment. The red tiger (E andrei) has dark and light red banding in the segments. It lso lacks the buff of the Ef.

The largest Eisenia hortenses another red compost worm is 5-6 "long and its coloration similar to Ef. Efs and Ea do not get larger than 4-5" in length.

You stated in your first post that the worm in question was much larger than the normal worm you have seen, I thought you had seen some normal size composting worms.

Thanks, lkittle. After I initially posted this I decided it was time to turn the pile -- when I checked again to take the picture the 'ga-zillions' were gone -- just a few smaller ones. Maybe they were not 6"-8" as I originally thought -- after putting a tape measure to these -- but they were a bit larger than the one in the picture -- but probably less than 6". Wow -- listening to you guys, there is quite a science in worms and a lot of people with an interest in them. Pretty cool. thanks, again!

I agree with lkittle, I don't think that's a red wiggler. The whitish clitellum (thick part0 and lack of any horizontal bands aren't right for a red wiggler. Even 6" long would be *very* long for a red wiggler.

I'm not familiar enough with Lumbricus rubellus to ID one, but sounds possible.

Glad imgur.com worked out for you. Very simple way to post a single picture to a forum.