the Science of Worm Grunting: How to Call Earthworms, Confuse Tourists, and Make Ground Give Up Its Secrets: 184

PrefaceThere are few moments in human history when a person has looked at a wooden stake, a flat piece of metal, and several acres of dirt and said, "I believe I can make worms come out of there." The first person to attempt worm grunting must have appeared either brilliant or dangerously unsupervised. Then the ground began to move, earthworms started crawling to the surface, and everyone who had been laughing suddenly wanted to borrow the equipment.Worm grunting is the practice of driving a wooden stake-traditionally called a stob-into the earth and rubbing it with a metal tool known as a rooping iron. The friction makes the stake vibrate. Those vibrations travel through the soil, where earthworms detect them and begin rising to the surface. Once aboveground, they may be gathered for fishing bait, research, demonstrations, or the simple satisfaction of knowing that a human being has successfully summoned an animal that does not have ears.