Earth worms are eating my pea seeds???

I know you are going to think I'm off my rocker.  I have been having a very hard time starting peas this year.  Normally I plant peas in early fall. If I get them in soon enough we get to eat peas in late fall, then they hang out through the winter, and get peas again in the spring.   I didn't get them in last fall, so I'm trying to get a spring crop.  Usually I have to start very early because it gets hot early here, and then the peas are done.  I planted a lot of peas about 4 to 6 weeks ago. It has been unusually cold here .  No peas. Not one.  I saw a few stems so I thought birds, rodents, squirrel, something is eating my pea seeds.  I tried again 2 weeks ago.  I covered the soil with clear covers hopping to prevent the thieves.  Nothing. A few days ago I uncovered a pea seed and it was just starting to sprout. I covered it back up. I checked this morning expecting to see pea sprouts. Nothing?  I uncovered the same seed and it is covered with tons of tiny worms.  I'm thinking well great now I have some kind of pest I have to deal with.  I take pictures do a search, and according to google they are baby earth worms.  Earth worms? Can't be, they are a gardeners best friend.  Or are they.  I've been doing some research, and there have been studies, and they found earth worms like high nitrogen seeds like peas. Did you hear me sigh? They will actually consume the pea seeds. Probably no peas for us this year. I guess the colder than normal weather making the seeds slow to germinate seem extra appealing to the worms ?  Peas don't like to be transplanted, and I have never had a problem growing them in the garden. So I kinda stumped.  I could start them indoors in cow pots, but it's getting late, I'm not sure it's worth the effort.
Have you heard of this?  Had a similar problem?  Looking forward to your comments.  Thanks

Were your seeds inoculated?

Is it old seeds? I believe earth worms eat things that are dead or decaying. Weird.

I've never heard of earthworms eating peas either, but apparently they do! There's always something! I'm hoping they are just something that looks like earthworms.
You could try presoaking the peas before planting them, or even sowing in modules like toilet roll inners to give them a head start. Or find something else for the worms to eat:

Earthworms like eating any part of pumpkins, canteloupe, squash, watermelon or honeydew melon.

(source) so maybe you can give them a decoy food to lure them away from the seeds (if it's not too late for you to sow now).
Good news that you've got lots of baby earthworms.

I am sorry to hear that you are having pea problems.

As Nancy said, "Good news that you've got lots of baby earthworms."

I would love to have some of those.

Since folks who raise worms in worm bins feed them table scraps, it is understandable that they will eat plants and seeds, too.

Maybe you could put some food scraps out as mulch and the worms will eat those instead.  I don't know.

Thanks for sharing the warning that earthworms will eat plants and seeds.

the creatures pictured are millipedes, not earthworms. i can see legs on a few of them.

The main predator of pea seedlings for me is snails and slugs. I have far better luck starting the seeds in trays and transplanting into the garden when they're about 8-10 cm high. This might be a way around your dilemma.

Thanks everyone for your input.
I always soak my peas before I plant. I did inoculate them. It has been a lot colder and wetter than normal for us this year, so it's taking a lot longer to sprout then normal.
Millipedes?  When I saw them that was my first thought, but I haven't noticed them in my garden before, at least not a mass of them.  The little even lines made me think that.  Since I wasn't sure I took pictures and Google said earth worms.  It sounds like they do similar functions, and are usually only a problem when there are to many.  This raised bed is a hugel beet, so it's loaded with organic matter.  I read they like very damp dark places full of organic matter, so that explains it.  It seems like I must be over populated at the moment. Seems like your solution for the worms will also work for the millipedes.  I think I will do the method where you plant a container full of holes and put kitchen scraps in it.  From what I read drying out the space is the best way to reduce the population.  Come summer this will happen.  If what I read is accurate I just have to hang on till then.
I haven't decided if I will try again this year. Peas are one of our favorite.  I watched a guy on YouTube start his peas in sand in a greenhouse. He said there was no transplant shock using this method.  I may try this. Not sure it's worth the effort at this point because I know we're going to go from unusually cold and wet to hot and dry literally overnight. It's happened before. We go from winter to summer.
Thank you all so much.  Not sure about peas, but hopefully with your help and great suggestions I will be able to plant other veggies/herbs/flowers with more success.

Thanks Phil, for some reason I always thought you couldn't transplant peas.  Who knew?  I will have to give it a try.  Thanks everyone

greg mosser wrote:the creatures pictured are millipedes, not earthworms. i can see legs on a few of them.

Oh yes - and eyes!