When I first started this blog, I made a video called Critters of the Worm Bin. It is a worm’s eye view of all of the different critters you will find in a typical worm bin. Pill bugs, sow bugs, carabids, mites, spiders, flies, etc. There’s even a very graphic scene where a pill bug is caught eating a worm! A once in a lifetime shot, if you ask me. I couldn’t believe I caught that on film. Nowadays, there aren’t so many critters left. The spiders took care of all the flies and became a big player in my Integrated Pest Management team. Now the spiders are gone and it’s mostly worms, the pill bugs, who are surprisingly omnivores, and Pacific Tree Frogs, who came on the scene about year and a half ago. Over that time, the frogs have eaten the rest of the critters! Except for the pill bugs and sow bugs, who must not be very tasty or nutritious. I suspect the frogs are eating some of the worms when they surface, but I’ve yet to catch one in the act. Sort of figured I would see some evidence of them digging if they were really after them. They’re really cute and the worms seem to be fine, so I’m not going to evict them just yet. After all, they are leaving the pill bugs and sow bugs, who do most of the heavy lifting in the system by breaking down the horse manure and discarded lettuce form the aquaponics system and then the bacteria and fungi take it from there. The worms eat the bacteria and fungi. I’ll keep an eye on the froggies and, hopefully, they can stay in the wormery without wearing out their welcome.