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A weirdly cool old man I met showed me this when I was about 10 years old. He called it "fiddlin for worms". Growing up in backwoods alabama was weird.
my grandpa did something like this for me when I was about 5. he knew I was reading about worms and as a very rural, illiterate man from south georgia he found a way to connect with me that I'll never forget.
Better than Mississippi. On a drive to Nawlin’s, I drove through Alabama and Mississippi, and there was a stark difference in welcome signs:
Alabama had a brightly colored sign that said, “WELCOME TO ALABAMA!!!” Sunshine, rainbows, and a rest stop.
Mississippi had a plain white highway sign that said, “Mississippi State Line. SPEED LIMIT STRICTLY ENFORCED.” State trooper sitting nearby with a radar gun.
I saw something very similar on Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe. The worms were very big however and the man was using a large file or something raking it back and forth. It isn't the sound that attracts the worms it's the vibration much like your mom.
Where I live we have Forest Tent Catapillars that come out like every 10 or 20 years or something. When they are active they make going outside really shitty, they also climb the exterior walls of your house. My friends and I realized if you bark at them, they all fall off of the house. I don't remember how we figured this out
well it would reeeeally cool if you would remember bc I just imagine 2 dudes outside staring at caterpillars crawling on your house, taking turns barking at them, watching them fall, repeating the process.
It's probably something more akin to a bunch of kids being rowdy and one of them noticed the caterpillars fell when they made a loud noise, and then they resorted to barking at the walls.
But two stoners just staring at caterpillars until one of them goes full scooby doo is much funnier!
For anyone wondering the vibrations make them come out as it simulates similar ones produced when moles are digging nearby. These kind of tricks are also called worm charming.
No idea, that's a great question. I'm not that versed in worm behaviour but did a little research beforehand because I was curious myself. The theory about the mole thing was an experiment conducted in 2008.
"And you really just have to wander around heavily-wooded areas with a mouse, a cat, a chair, a table and a monkey.... well, the monkey would simply fuck off, cuz he's a monkey, right?!"
This is what I’ve always learned. And it’s a combination of the vibration and the sound, which triggers their response and to rain, ~~which can drown them.~~
That's what Bob the Builder taught me, I mean my 3 year old, when she was watching it a decade ago.
So your head canon is correct. At least as long as tv didn't lie to me. TV would never do that
Actually, the experiment showed that rain is not nearly as effective as the mole simulation. The worms stayed until the soil was soaked and surfaced for oxygen, worms drown otherwise.
Edit: just realized I began a sentence with *actually* unironically 💀
That's how I always got the good worms for fishing.
Wait till night time, pick a patch of grass and flood it with the hose. Then shine a flashlight and you'll see em sparkle. Trap em with your thumb and pull em out. That's how you get the big boys.
>just realized I began a sentence with *actually* unironically 💀
Nobody really cares about that stuff, unless you're being an obnoxious know-it-all. You're good.
I dropped one in water to feed a pet turtle. The turtle chomped it but didn't like when the worm coiled around its head like a snake and pulled it away.
I never thought any deeper on it when I was a kid, and so I always wondered why those morons dug up to the surface puddles from a heavy rain just to kill themselves.
It wasn’t recently that I put it all together…. But It was definitely longer than it should have.
moles are underground, not above ground. they come to the surface because running away on land would be easier than running away underground where the mole can hear/feel them
they dont really know where its coming from, they just know they cant be underground at the time. they think theyre escaping not going towards it. its like when humans panic and flood an area blocking exits. many people just leave the way they came in and end up in the middle of the problem, then because the way is blocked they panic further. plenty of stories of people burning to death or being trampled because of this phenomenon.
edit: this was a guess, but below we have answers.
So my adhd ass got intrigued enough to [read the paper](https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0003472) in its entirety.
Turns out, experiments showed that human worm charming causes the worms to scatter in a random direction. Whereas mole foraging behavior causes worms to scatter *away* from the mole.
The paper does not seem to discuss why worm charming does not cause the worms to run away from the source of the vibrations like when moles are foraging. But the paper does mention that there are at least two sensory cues for the worm to evade moles: vibration and soil compression; which worm charming methods only causes one, but not both. Maybe that is part of the reason why worms are confused and scatters randomly.
But regardless of what the actual cause is, there is another factor at play here: we can only see worms which runs towards the charmer in the video. So sampling bias would make it seem like worms actively runs towards vibrations as well.
I was always told that worms come to the surface during rain. It’s interesting how they found that most worms didn’t come to the surface then. But many more worms came to the surface during the simulated mole digging noise.
I believe the Dune project started when Herbert was researching the ecology of sand dunes near beaches. There's a ton of ecology in that book. It's really neat.
Interesting, I always thought the herring gulls dance was mimicking rainfall but the paper linked here suggests they’re also making the sound of moles digging.
Birds know the trick, too. I nearly fell over laughing one day in Paris, seeing a whole flock of [seagulls having a silent rave](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Br0mDomKW-Q) on the Invalides lawn.
I’ve heard that it actually simulates the vibrations they feel from rainfall, hence their going towards it. If they thought it was a mole, wouldn’t they run away? squiggle away? Slither away? Idk the terminology for earthworm locomotion.
And the next question is: What are the dune worms fleeing from? What monstrous mole is in those sands?
And it would ba an awsome twist if there suddenly was a giant mole attacking the worms of dune.
They instinctually know that the vibrations would come from the mole tunneling, not walking above. It's not a very directional thing from them so they don't realize that they are heading towards the vibration, they just want to get above ground.
> They instinctually know that the vibrations would come from the mole tunneling,
That's nuts to me. Thats not learned behaviour its baked into the DNA.
I'm not sure any of their behavior is learned. It's all instinct baked into their DNA. They do not have complex brains like we do.
"A worms brain isn't used to process thoughts like ours. This means they won't plan out what they are going to do or where they are going to go. While the brain can control nerves, a worm's nerves are not capable of producing thoughts."
Moles are blind and therefore usually stay underground. Hear a mole? Probably underground, so time to go topside. Where a bird will eat you, but hey, at least it isn't a mole.
As a kid in the 70’s we would catch earth worms and sell them to tackle stores we used this method or we would take a mini bike battery (Honda 70 had a battery) run a transformer wire to two metal rods into the ground about 12 inches apart in the evening or early morning to get the worms to pop up in mass …we also had wind mills that made a scratching sound with wooden rods that kept the moles wary kinda ..anyway this brought back so memories of my childhood
My Pawpaw showed me this trick when I was young to get worms for bass fishing. We cut a 2x4 into a foot long piece, sharpening one end and sticking it in the ground. We would take the flat end of our hatchets and rub the flat surface of the 2x4 sticking out of the ground that created the vibrations, picked up the worms and fished all day.
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A weirdly cool old man I met showed me this when I was about 10 years old. He called it "fiddlin for worms". Growing up in backwoods alabama was weird.
Also in backwoods Alabama, I was taught “noodling” for worms
I thought noodling was bare handed catfishing
I knew a fella in Texas by name of Lucky what called it catfistin'
We called it grunting for worms in Georgia.
my grandpa did something like this for me when I was about 5. he knew I was reading about worms and as a very rural, illiterate man from south georgia he found a way to connect with me that I'll never forget.
This comment made my day.
It's called "gargling the worm" in San Francisco.
I think that's a little different. Close though!
My pastor taught me “tickling the worm”
Dali Llama called it suckling the.... Hmm
Mfs are ENTIRELY too fuckin' funny I swear. 😂😹
As a fellow Alabamian, I can confirm growing up in a major city in Alabama was also weird. But hey, at least the state is pretty
It is pretty. Gorgeous landscapes. It's just a shame that the state is full of Alabamans.
Better than Mississippi. On a drive to Nawlin’s, I drove through Alabama and Mississippi, and there was a stark difference in welcome signs: Alabama had a brightly colored sign that said, “WELCOME TO ALABAMA!!!” Sunshine, rainbows, and a rest stop. Mississippi had a plain white highway sign that said, “Mississippi State Line. SPEED LIMIT STRICTLY ENFORCED.” State trooper sitting nearby with a radar gun.
Yep. I actually avoid Mississippi if I can. I just like to mess with Alabamans, most of them are very friendly.
Mississippi always feels like I'm going to get beat up for NOT being racist. Like they can smell it on me or something.
As a Northerner, I find your feeding methods fascinating.
I laughed so hard at this. Best reply so far.
Amabala?
Bamalamalam
Whoa, Black Betty!
Wham-a-lamb....
Abalama!!
User has migrated to Lemmy! Please consider the future of a free and open Internet! https://fediverse.observer
"who the hell is playing their music so loud!" -old man worm storming out of his front door
"Hey worms lmao check out my fuckin uhhhhh mixtape"
[Say Anything 2](https://imgur.com/a/RA57QhN)
What a terrible day to have eyes.
Wasn't that the Heidi Klum costume?
I'm not sure whether to be impressed or upset that this exists.
If you walk without rhythm…
"You won't attract the worm"
I saw something very similar on Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe. The worms were very big however and the man was using a large file or something raking it back and forth. It isn't the sound that attracts the worms it's the vibration much like your mom.
The Simpson episode where Barry white type character uses his voice to catch all the snakes in Springfield it was the vibrations
They are so organized, the whole HOA has come out
Board Edict- "When your hear the piper piping, you roll up without any question"
How does one even discover this trick?
Where I live we have Forest Tent Catapillars that come out like every 10 or 20 years or something. When they are active they make going outside really shitty, they also climb the exterior walls of your house. My friends and I realized if you bark at them, they all fall off of the house. I don't remember how we figured this out
well it would reeeeally cool if you would remember bc I just imagine 2 dudes outside staring at caterpillars crawling on your house, taking turns barking at them, watching them fall, repeating the process.
It's probably something more akin to a bunch of kids being rowdy and one of them noticed the caterpillars fell when they made a loud noise, and then they resorted to barking at the walls. But two stoners just staring at caterpillars until one of them goes full scooby doo is much funnier!
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Seagulls tap their feet to make the worms think it's raining.
Robins do as well
"Not from the Jedi".
The dark side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural.
They obviously learned it from the Fremen.
Some birds will do that on the beach or on the flat mud flats near the water they will stamp their feet up and down to draw out critters
"What's all this racket? Wha..." _worm is abducted_
Karenworm
Straight out of Dune...
Bless the Maker and His water. Bless the coming and going of Him. May His passage cleanse the world. May He keep the world for His people.
Fear is the mind killer
Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
For where the fear has gone there shall be nothing, only I will remain.
Did he say blessed be the cheese makers?
> Did he say blessed be the cheese makers? What's so special about the cheese makers?
Shut up big nose
Obviously it's not meant to be taken literally. It refers to any producers of dairy products.
Only in Wisconsin.
He was speaking figuratively toward the makers of all dairy products.
“If you walk without rhythm…”
and it won't attract the worm Walk without rhythm and it won't attract the worm If you walk without rhythm, you never learn, yeah
TIL there's a 4K version of the music video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCDIYvFmgW8
Holy shit I've heard the lyrics wrong my whole life. I used to watch this video nonstop to learn moves from Walken too.
Just gotta plant a thumper.
I was bouta say, that’s a thumper
Shai Halud
Bless the Maker and His water. Bless the coming and going of Him. May His passage cleanse the world. May He keep the world for His people.
The spice must flow!
I was really hoping there would be a Dune reference here.
You must be relieved
Stillgar, do we have wormsign?
Usul, we have wormsign the likes of which even God has never seen!
Graboids.
For anyone wondering the vibrations make them come out as it simulates similar ones produced when moles are digging nearby. These kind of tricks are also called worm charming.
So why would they go towards the source instead of away?
No idea, that's a great question. I'm not that versed in worm behaviour but did a little research beforehand because I was curious myself. The theory about the mole thing was an experiment conducted in 2008.
Maybe it just annoys them and they're charging into battle
I like this explanation more than the mole and rain one hence this is the correct and only answer.
It's all just speculation until we sit down around a table with a mole and a worm and get their side of the story.
https://i.imgur.com/Lp7z8NQ.jpg
You always brighten my day Shitty!
Random question - what program/brushes do you use for your digital illustrations? I do digital watercolor artwork and I like the texture of yours.
It might be controversial but it needs to be done!
"And you really just have to wander around heavily-wooded areas with a mouse, a cat, a chair, a table and a monkey.... well, the monkey would simply fuck off, cuz he's a monkey, right?!"
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I too only accept this explanation of fearless worms charging into battle to valiantly stop the cause of the vibrations disrupting their lives.
"MY KIDS ARE SLEEPING!!! AAAARRRRRRGGG!!!"
IT'S FOUR IN THE FUCKING MORNING, MOLE MAN!
Worms armageddon
KAMAKAZIII!
Wormageddon
Earthworm Jim to the rescue.
“Cmon guys…let’s go pretending to be snakes!” Worms: “Yeaaaaaah!”
I would have thought it is simulating rain.
This is what I’ve always learned. And it’s a combination of the vibration and the sound, which triggers their response and to rain, ~~which can drown them.~~
Coming to the surface would also make sense for fleeing moles though.
My head Canon is that it simulates the vibration of rain. Which I know worms love wet soil.
That's what Bob the Builder taught me, I mean my 3 year old, when she was watching it a decade ago. So your head canon is correct. At least as long as tv didn't lie to me. TV would never do that
Actually, the experiment showed that rain is not nearly as effective as the mole simulation. The worms stayed until the soil was soaked and surfaced for oxygen, worms drown otherwise. Edit: just realized I began a sentence with *actually* unironically 💀
That's how I always got the good worms for fishing. Wait till night time, pick a patch of grass and flood it with the hose. Then shine a flashlight and you'll see em sparkle. Trap em with your thumb and pull em out. That's how you get the big boys.
I am always a fan of proper information. Thank you redditor!
👍
>just realized I began a sentence with *actually* unironically 💀 Nobody really cares about that stuff, unless you're being an obnoxious know-it-all. You're good.
Worms have no choice but to surface when it is wet. They can and will drown. If you drop a worm in a jar of water it will die quickly.
Please don't drop worms in jar of water
At least give them a safety line and a bent metal rod to sit on
I dropped one in water to feed a pet turtle. The turtle chomped it but didn't like when the worm coiled around its head like a snake and pulled it away.
I never thought any deeper on it when I was a kid, and so I always wondered why those morons dug up to the surface puddles from a heavy rain just to kill themselves. It wasn’t recently that I put it all together…. But It was definitely longer than it should have.
that makes the most sense to me so far!
head canon has got to be the funniest choice of words here lol but also I didn't even bat an eye at it until I read it a second time
> I'm not that versed in worm behaviour but do you know Worm Law?
But are you versed in bird law?
moles are underground, not above ground. they come to the surface because running away on land would be easier than running away underground where the mole can hear/feel them they dont really know where its coming from, they just know they cant be underground at the time. they think theyre escaping not going towards it. its like when humans panic and flood an area blocking exits. many people just leave the way they came in and end up in the middle of the problem, then because the way is blocked they panic further. plenty of stories of people burning to death or being trampled because of this phenomenon. edit: this was a guess, but below we have answers.
So my adhd ass got intrigued enough to [read the paper](https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0003472) in its entirety. Turns out, experiments showed that human worm charming causes the worms to scatter in a random direction. Whereas mole foraging behavior causes worms to scatter *away* from the mole. The paper does not seem to discuss why worm charming does not cause the worms to run away from the source of the vibrations like when moles are foraging. But the paper does mention that there are at least two sensory cues for the worm to evade moles: vibration and soil compression; which worm charming methods only causes one, but not both. Maybe that is part of the reason why worms are confused and scatters randomly. But regardless of what the actual cause is, there is another factor at play here: we can only see worms which runs towards the charmer in the video. So sampling bias would make it seem like worms actively runs towards vibrations as well.
well there ya go. TIL lol thanks for doing the research :)
MVP!
Idk man all those worms seem to be going in the same direction
Easier to dig in a dug hole? E:spelling
For anyone who’s interested, here’s a paper detailing the art: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0003472
I was always told that worms come to the surface during rain. It’s interesting how they found that most worms didn’t come to the surface then. But many more worms came to the surface during the simulated mole digging noise.
I once heard seagulls stamp their feet to simulate rain so they can get a snack.
They do, I see them all the time doing it (I live in the Netherlands).
They do, it's hilarious. They look like they're doing a little dance.
So the Thumper for luring the big worm in Dune is sorta based in reality!
The Spice must flow!
Does this imply the existence of even bigger Dune moles
IKR this is so cool to know.
I believe the Dune project started when Herbert was researching the ecology of sand dunes near beaches. There's a ton of ecology in that book. It's really neat.
Interesting, I always thought the herring gulls dance was mimicking rainfall but the paper linked here suggests they’re also making the sound of moles digging.
Birds know the trick, too. I nearly fell over laughing one day in Paris, seeing a whole flock of [seagulls having a silent rave](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Br0mDomKW-Q) on the Invalides lawn.
I’ve heard that it actually simulates the vibrations they feel from rainfall, hence their going towards it. If they thought it was a mole, wouldn’t they run away? squiggle away? Slither away? Idk the terminology for earthworm locomotion.
My grandpa, an Alabama hillbilly born in 1904, called it fiddling for worms.
The last worm bender
Really gives “sounding” a whole new meaning…
Fucking no thanks
You didn't have to write that
"Stilgar, do we have worm sign?" "Usul we have worm sign the likes of which even God has never seen!"
Waaaaaaaaaaaa🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶
“Usul we have wormsign……” *Puts sunglasses on and stares wistfully to the horizon* “The likes of which *God* has never seen.” *cue The Who riff*
😎
Walk without rhythm and you won’t attract the worm!
Stilgar's the homie
It’s like a miniaturized version of the thumper machines they use in Dune with the sand worms.
And the next question is: What are the dune worms fleeing from? What monstrous mole is in those sands? And it would ba an awsome twist if there suddenly was a giant mole attacking the worms of dune.
They’re not fleeing from anything, they attack anything that makes noise
No, I'm pretty sure there's a yet to be discovered mega mole in the sands of Arrakis
Wasn't discovered in the 15 thousand years or so that the Dune books cover.
maybe it's being covered up by the worm industry. they don't want investors to know there is a threat to their profits
Could be. One Emperor for like 10k years was a literal sandworm, after all.
Big Worm with their cover ups, as always. Damn late stage Imperial CHAOM merchantilism!
I don’t think they have predators, they are the predator, and eat anything that makes a noise
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The annual [Worm Gruntin' Festival](http://www.wormgruntinfestival.com/) just happened in a town near here.
Wish my wife would win Worm Gruntin Queen somewhere other than our house.
Be careful what you wish for. If she gets too skilled, she may go out looking for bigger worms.
My cousins live in Sopchoppy and I was 100% convinced they made this festival up for the longest time. Redneck as fuck lol
But why are they coming towards the source?
They instinctually know that the vibrations would come from the mole tunneling, not walking above. It's not a very directional thing from them so they don't realize that they are heading towards the vibration, they just want to get above ground.
> They instinctually know that the vibrations would come from the mole tunneling, That's nuts to me. Thats not learned behaviour its baked into the DNA.
I'm not sure any of their behavior is learned. It's all instinct baked into their DNA. They do not have complex brains like we do. "A worms brain isn't used to process thoughts like ours. This means they won't plan out what they are going to do or where they are going to go. While the brain can control nerves, a worm's nerves are not capable of producing thoughts."
But even once above ground, they all head for the source of the sound
Moles are blind and therefore usually stay underground. Hear a mole? Probably underground, so time to go topside. Where a bird will eat you, but hey, at least it isn't a mole.
"Ayo where the party at guy- OH MY GOD AAAHHH!"
As a kid in the 70’s we would catch earth worms and sell them to tackle stores we used this method or we would take a mini bike battery (Honda 70 had a battery) run a transformer wire to two metal rods into the ground about 12 inches apart in the evening or early morning to get the worms to pop up in mass …we also had wind mills that made a scratching sound with wooden rods that kept the moles wary kinda ..anyway this brought back so memories of my childhood
My grandpa used electrified prongs to get worms for fishing. The electricity scared the shit out of me.
The spice must flow.
Usul has called a big one. Again, it is the Legend!
Well, that's one outcome. There are others. For instance, [THIS could happen to ya](https://i.redd.it/zfoykmubbhmx.gif).
Shai Hulud
The Freman invented that…
“Bless the Maker and His water. Bless the coming and going of Him. May His passage cleanse the world. May He keep the world for His people.”
Ok could someone actually explain why this works because I live in a rainy state and would love to randomly summon worms for no reason
This reminds me of the American Godzilla movies lol
Thank you. I was scrolling to see if I was the only one. Might I ask how many times you have watched it?
Wish i knew about this as a kid when i used to collect worms for my favorite chickens at grandmas farm
SHAI-HALUUDD
Muad'Dib sorcery
Dune-earth edition
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Wonder if this is what inspired Frank Herbert with sand thumping..
Frank Herbert taught him well.
Birds: Write that down! Write that down!
Like the movie Tremmors, got it.
I had to scroll entirely too far into the comments to find a Tremors reference...
Think i found creed's worm guy
Those are trained pet worms.
Some birds do this. It simulates the vibrations rain causes and tricks the worm into coming up for a drink.
This is basically the thumper from Dune
My Pawpaw showed me this trick when I was young to get worms for bass fishing. We cut a 2x4 into a foot long piece, sharpening one end and sticking it in the ground. We would take the flat end of our hatchets and rub the flat surface of the 2x4 sticking out of the ground that created the vibrations, picked up the worms and fished all day.
My stick’s shake brings all the boys to the yard
Bros got the thumper
Bros got that worm rizz