How To Charm A Worm

We have a subscription to Britbox, a British streaming service with a lot of mysteries that we like. We’re watching now a series called ‘Hope Street.’ It’s about a team of police officers in a small Northern Ireland town.

The episode we just watched had a ‘Worm Charming Competition.’ I looked it up and it’s a real thing with annual competitions. Each team has a square of grass land. The one thing you can’t do is disturb the grass, or dig into the soil.

The earthworms are ‘charmed’ by sounds and vibrations which causes them to rise up out of the soil. In the picture above one woman is hammering on a pitchfork. The kids are tapping on a wash board like playing a drum. In the middle background there is a big black drum. Some people blow horns. Anything that makes noice or vibrations is allowed.

The weird part is it works. After the time is up, the team with the most earthworms is the winner. Sounds like fun to me.

Got to love our UK, Scottish and Irish ancestors.