Sherilyn Lanham, age 11, of Knoxville, Tenn., for her question:

Why does a worm come out after rain?

Andy wrote about worms last week and this little item was forgotten. When he has a choice, Mr. Pinky does not come out in the daytime. But after a brisk shower, he may have no choice. The water may sink into the ground and flood his burrow. The little fellow is then rained out.

A worm breathes air. He cannot, like a fish, take dissolved oxygen from the water. The soil in which he lives is crumbly and full of little pockets of air, Then, of course, his burrow is a tunnel of air. So usually he can breathe happily. But when the rain trickled down and fills his burrow, he has to come up for air. This means that a good time to catch worms is after a brisk shower.