Do earthworms feel pain?

Biologically, they lack a complex brain like ours, but they definitely avoid negative stimuli. It is just like how our body reacts to sudden changes. Always good to be kind to all living creatures anyway.

If you look up actual biological papers instead of random blog posts, you'll see they have nociceptors that detect harm. They don't experience emotional pain, but they absolutely feel physical distress when injured.

They do react to touch and chemicals in the soil. I see plenty of them while doing light organic farming to keep myself active. Best to just let them do their job of keeping the soil fertile.

I totally get it, it hurts to see any small creature struggle. Even if science says their brain is tiny, their reaction to being touched or hurt shows they definitely feel some form of pain. We should avoid stepping on them.

Honestly, I accidentally stepped on one during the rains once and it wriggled so badly, it made me feel physically sick and guilty for days. I totally believe they feel pain in their own way, poor things.