Niba: Worms tie themselves into knots...but on purpose.

For earthworms, getting all tied up reduces their surface area so they can stay hydrated during droughts. They burrow deeper underground where they turn themselves into pretzels and then secrete a whole bunch of mucus to retain moisture. It's a kind of summer hibernation called estivation. And then when it's like, safe and moist outside, they can emerge again.

But not all worm knots are a good thing, and sometimes, they can even turn deadly. Some much smaller worms called nematodes can get infected by bacteria that inflate their butts, and then tie them together to form worm stars. The dozens of worms bound together in these stars become immobilized, they lose their structural integrity, and turn into bacterial food. Literally, getting tied up in knots.

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