Garbage Worm

Garbage Worms are creatures made up of a single, flexible black tendril ending in a bulb very similar to an eye-stalk. They are generally found sprouting from dirty water or garbage, especially in the Garbage Wastes region, though they can also be found in Industrial Complex, Shoreline, and Chimney Canopy. They are neutral by nature and won't attack until provoked, this includes Slugcat and Lizards.

Slugcat Interaction
Generally passive and non-hostile, these long worms bend their flexible bodies to observe Slugcat, until they approach too close, in which case the garbage worm in question will retract back where it had sprouted from. Before retracting however, these creatures will usually try to steal spears from the Slugcat and from Scavengers. Smaller objects such as rubbish, pearls, and grenades won't get stolen.

Hitting garbage worms with weapons will make them hostile, indicated by a change in eye-color from white to red. In this state, they will attempt to drown Slugcat in the dirty water they spring from. If no water is available, they'll just fling you around. Hitting a garbage worm will make all worms hostile until the following cycle.

Although garbage worms can be stunned and may temporarily retreat underground, they cannot be killed.

Developer's Note
The Developers have said on the Kickstarter page that while Garbage Worms generally leave your Slugcat alone, "always be cautious though ~ hunger has no law".

Trivia

 * Interestingly enough, when the rain arrives, garbage worms do not appear to flee from it, and instead simply wave around as usual, seemingly unbothered. Although it is entirely possible they retreat underground once the rain sufficiently obscures the screen.


 * Garbage Worm Drown.gif's implied within lore pearls that garbage worms are not (purely) animal life, and are another "Purposed Organism". Looks To The Moon refers to an early design for a "refuse reclamation automaton" with a "long tubular body" and "single eye-mouth". This seems to line up with both the appearance and behavior of the garbage worms.