Thursday, October 16, 2008

Worm grunting explained at last

Some call it "worm grunting", "worm snoring" or "worm charming", but whatever the name, we are now closer to understanding why a peculiar grunting sound drives worms out of their holes: they think it is a mole.



Worm grunting involves driving a wooden stake into the ground and then rubbing its top with a long piece of steel called a rooping iron, to produce a deep grunting sound. The vibrations drive earthworms out of their burrows, where they can be collected for fishing bait – sometimes in their thousands.

No comments: