# Have you ever tried worm "charming" or "grunting" to harvest worms? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 27, 2015, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-tried-worm-charming-or-grunting-to-harvest-worms/718657 "2015-04-27T17:38:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2015, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-tried-worm-charming-or-grunting-to-harvest-worms/718657/1 "2015-04-27T17:38:30Z")
[These guys are going to town on it!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ILoGcSxCAY) Have any dopers ever tried it? [Wiki on it here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worm_charming). It’s just fascinating! > [@](#): > > Most worm charming methods involve vibrating the soil, which encourages the worms to the surface. In 2008 researchers from Vanderbilt University claimed that the worms surface because the vibrations are similar to those produced by digging moles, which prey on earthworms.[3][4] The same technique is used by many species of bird, which devour the worms as they appear above ground.[1] > > The activity is known by several different names and the apparatus and techniques vary significantly.[1][2] “Worm grunting” generally refers to the use of a “stob”, a wooden stake that is driven into the ground, and a “rooping iron” which is used to rub the stob.[5] “Worm fiddling” also uses a wooden stake but utilises a dulled saw which is dragged along its top.[1] ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2015, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-tried-worm-charming-or-grunting-to-harvest-worms/718657/2 "2015-04-27T18:07:15Z")
[**This**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0psWy_XLP0g) is what came to mind for me… ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2015, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-tried-worm-charming-or-grunting-to-harvest-worms/718657/3 "2015-04-27T18:17:26Z")
Have they tried just walking around with an even gait? ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2015, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-tried-worm-charming-or-grunting-to-harvest-worms/718657/4 "2015-04-27T18:25:37Z")
Are the worms making spice? ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2015, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-tried-worm-charming-or-grunting-to-harvest-worms/718657/5 "2015-04-27T18:32:34Z")
We used to just wet down the lawn at dusk. Then when it got dark, you walked along with a flashlight picking them up. It took some know how. You had to look close and determine which end was at the hole and grab that end. If you instead grabbed at the other end it could slither back into the hole before you could get a grasp. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2015, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-tried-worm-charming-or-grunting-to-harvest-worms/718657/6 "2015-04-27T18:49:00Z")
Actually, what I thought of was Rocky and Bullwinkle at the **Lazy Jay Worm Ranch** : [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/_zw-Qoumjwg/hqdefault.jpg "The Rocky Show - Lazy Jay Ranch #8 Aches and Planes or The Old Chisel 'Em Trail") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zw-Qoumjwg) (I’ll bet Jay Ward just _loved_ the name of that ranch!) ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2015, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-tried-worm-charming-or-grunting-to-harvest-worms/718657/7 "2015-04-27T19:10:44Z")
Never tried it myself, but Mike Roe did it on a Dirty Jobs episode. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2015, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-tried-worm-charming-or-grunting-to-harvest-worms/718657/8 "2015-04-27T19:13:44Z")
After seeing it on television a group of us just had to try it and it worked to some degree. The less rocks in the soil, the better it seemed to do. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2015, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-tried-worm-charming-or-grunting-to-harvest-worms/718657/9 "2015-04-28T03:44:48Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > (I’ll bet Jay Ward just _loved_ the name of that ranch!) [hijack] They threw in jokes like that rather regularly. In one episode, there was some mention of jaywalking. (IIRC, Bullwinkle walked across a street, and Rocky complained he was jaywalking.) Bullwinkle answered: “No, I’m Jaywarding!” [/hijack] ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2015, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-tried-worm-charming-or-grunting-to-harvest-worms/718657/10 "2015-04-28T06:34:44Z")
When I was at school, we charmed worms (for the biology lab) by marching in circles on the grass - the vibration did cause them to emerge from the soil - the explanation we were given was that the worms couldn’t tell the difference between vibration from rain vs any other source (and that they do emerge when it rains, to avoid drowning) ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2015, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-tried-worm-charming-or-grunting-to-harvest-worms/718657/11 "2015-04-28T13:31:53Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > When I was at school, we charmed worms (for the biology lab) by marching in circles on the grass - the vibration did cause them to emerge from the soil - the explanation we were given was that the worms couldn’t tell the difference between vibration from rain vs any other source (and that they do emerge when it rains, to avoid drowning) Google seems to indicate that the preponderance of opinion goes against the idea that they’re avoiding drowning. Rather, the moist ground makes it possible for them to move overland, covering more territory in less time than they can underground. Presumably this increases their chances of finding food and mates. There’s also the possibility that the vibrations of the rain hitting the soil sound similar to the vibrations of predators, like the charming or grunting being discussed in this thread. One reference: [Why Do Earthworms Surface After Rain? | Scientific American](http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-earthworms-surface-after-rain/)