The Mongolian Death Worm – What Is It?

Last Updated on November 28, 2020 by admin

 

Scientists are intrigued by the idea of a creature that has been reported by Mongolian nomads for hundreds of years.  The Mongolian Death Worm is a giant poisonous worm that allegedly lives in the Gobi Desert.

It can generate jolts of electricity powerful enough to kill a camel.  For generations, natives of the area have sworn to the reality of the creature they call Allghoi khorkhoi. The name means “intestine worm,” because it has been described as resembling the intestine of a cow. The death worm is so feared among the people of Mongolia that many consider the mere mention of its name bad luck, and it is attributed with the dramatic ability to kill people and animals instantly at a range of several feet.

The Mongolian Death Worm is generally considered a cryptozoological creature, an animal whose existence is disputed and/or unconfirmed.  The Worm is said to inhabit the Southern Gobi Desert in Mongolia.  The first reference in English to this remarkable beast appears in Professor Roy Chapman Andrews’ 1926 book On the Trail of Ancient Man.  The creature is reported to be able to spray an acid like substance that causes death instantly.  It is also claimed that this creature has the ability to kill from a distance with some sort of high voltage electrical charge.  The creature is reported to hibernate during most of the year except for June and July when it becomes active.

It is believed that touching any part of the worm will bring instant death, and its venom supposedly corrodes metal.  Local folklore also tells of a predilection for the color yellow and local parasitic plants such as the Goyo.  It is also believed that the worm likes to get out on the ground generally after the rain, when the ground is still wet.  Some believe the worm is actually a reptile, legless lizard, or arthropod because of the dry climate in which it lives.

In Mongolia a story is told of a young boy who was playing outside with a yellow toy box, a death worm crawled inside.  When the boy touched the worm, he was killed instantly. The boy’s parents found his body and a wavy trail leading away in the sand.  They knew what had happened and followed the trail to kill the worm, but it killed them instead.

If it exists it really is a species that’s never been identified before.  Admittedly, any animal that can instantly kill anyone who tries to observe it would stand a good chance at escaping scientific classification for quite some time.