Worm Charming

In its purest form, worm charming is the process of drawing earthworms up from the soil in which they live. This is normally done in order to collect lures when fishing, but it is also a sport which has had many championships. This sport requires a lot of skill and knowledge. In worm charming, the soil is vibrated so that the earthworms come to the top of the soil. Earthworms are found in wet areas and do not stay much in dry soil. People who charm these worms try to attract them by creating a damp environment for them.

 

Worm charming competitions are held in many countries of the world, particularly those with lush, green fields and decent rainfall. Every participant is given a piece of land roughly three yards square in size, and the object of the game is to “charm” as many worms out of the soil as you possibly can within the time limit. The person who manages to coax the most worms out of the ground within the time limit is the winner. The methods by which people charm the worms, however, vary wildly. Dragging a strongly vibrating object across the ground is one popular method. More unorthodox practices include stomping and tap dancing to try and scare the worms out (although this runs the risk of killing the worms), meditation, and various musical instruments.

 

The first such event was held at a school in Willaston, England and was won by a young lad named Tom who collected 511 worms in thirty minutes. Some years later, the first worm charming world championships were held and have taken place annually ever since.

 

Worm charming requires skill, training, and a whole lot of luck. The participants need to know how to attract the worms. The techniques should be right. Most of these competitions are held in moist places where the ground would be wet enough worms to collect. The person should also have some knowledge as to how to attract these worms. Some people are real experts in this field and they have passed on their skills to their next generation, so it has become a passing on of tradition. People have even opted to teach their children about this skill by giving them the right knowledge for this type of event.

 

A variation on traditional worm charming is worm grunting where participants combine the use of a wooden stake driven into the ground with all manner of unusual noises (most commonly, grunting, as the name suggests) to try and entice the worms. Whilst this is fun to participate in, it is even just as much fun to watch. It is not easy to attract the worms as just vibrating the soil might not actually coax them out of the soil.

 

The novelty of the sport has seen more and more people becoming interested as well as an increased attention given to the sport. Even though worm charming was not originally a sport, it is practicing it as a sport which has received the most attention. With the amount of curiosity, intrigue, and mystique that surrounds the practice, this is not entirely surprising!