Earthworms are often used as bait for anglers, but they’re also integral to healthy gardens, and are great in compost areas because they break down organic matter quickly and turn it into nutrient-rich soil. Worms are active at different times for different reasons, so if you know when to look for them, gathering a few for your garden, worm farm, or compost pile will be simple. Not only is it free to gather earthworms, but it’s a great activity for the kids to participate in as well.
Steps
Hunting for Worms at Night
- Understand earthworm schedules. Some earthworms are called nightcrawlers because they are visibly active at night. While they spend their days burrowed underground in the soil, they surface at night in order to feed on organic matter.[1] Therefore, you can collect earthworms at night without having to dig like you would in the day.
- Earthworms are most active in the spring and fall, because they don’t like extreme cold or hot.[2] However, they will also be active during summer nights.
- Choose your hunting ground. Earthworms like fertile, moist soil, so your best bet for finding them is a garden, field, park, or even a golf course.
- Look for evidence of earthworms to determine if you’re looking in the right place. Look for pellets or small piles of soil on the surface of the ground.[3]
- Assemble your tools. Since earthworms will be active and above ground at night, you just have to go hunting for them. You won’t need any fancy tools for earthworm hunting, but you should take:[4]
- A flashlight with a dull or red light in it. Earthworms can’t see, but they can sense light. Because they’ll dry out in the sun, earthworms only surface at night, and they will shy away from a bright flashlight.
- A shovel or small spade to move soil around or turn it over.
- Prepare your worm container. You can use a container made of Styrofoam, metal, plastic, glass, or cardboard. Fill it three-quarters of the way with moist soil, and cover the soil with dead, wet leaves. The leaves will help keep the soil moist and provide the worms with food.[5]
- Consider reusing a container from the kitchen, such as a butter tub, coffee can, jar, or ice cream tub. An old bucket will also do. Make sure your container is empty and clean before storing worms in it.
- Worms need oxygen, so if you are going to be storing them for a couple days, poke numerous small holes in the lid. Make the holes large enough to let air pass through, but not so large that the worms can stretch and wriggle their way out.
- Wait for the sun to set and go searching. Go to your hunting ground when night falls. Walk softly, slowly, and quietly. Worms cannot hear, but they can sense vibrations.
- Use your flashlight to inspect your hunting ground, and gather up any worms that you find. You will have to work quickly, because if the worms sense you coming, the will wriggle back into the soil. Place the worms you collect in your container and allow them to burrow into the soil you’ve provided.
- Turn over stones, logs, leaves, and anything else lying on the ground, as you will likely find worms underneath.[6]
- Use your spade or shovel to turn over leaves and the top layer of soil if you’re having trouble finding worms.
Digging for Worms
- Learn about the different types of worms. Nightcrawlers that come to the surface at night are excellent burrowers and will dig themselves into burrows up to six feet deep during the day. With the digging method, you’re more likely to come across surface-dwelling worm species that move their way through loose soil and organic matter instead of burrowing. These worms are suitable for composting, but aren’t great in gardens that lack a thick top layer of loose soil.[7]
- Assemble your equipment. Digging for earthworms will basically require the same tools as earthworm hunting. You will need: a shovel or spade and a container filled with moist soil and leaves.
- An ideal time to look for earthworms is when you are already digging up soil, such as during gardening, fence building, or digging a foundation. If you go deeper than just the surface, you will find different types of earthworms, including nightcrawlers.
- You can also try digging in a community garden or forest floor, but you should avoid digging up earth in privately owned golf courses, fields, and public parks.
- Dress for gardening. You’ll be digging through soil for worms, so you’re likely going to get dirty. You may want to wear:
- Old clothes
- Knee pads
- Gardening gloves
- Gardening boots or shoes
- Dig for worms. Select a patch of ground in your backyard, garden, or forest and begin digging a small hole. As you lift the soil out, sift through it for worms and collect any that you find. An excellent place to dig for worms is near a stream or water source.
- Be as quiet as possible so your vibrations don’t spook the worms.
- Be sure to look under rocks, logs, and other items lying on the ground.
- Consider leaving a piece of wet cardboard on your lawn the night before digging. This will attract worms so that when you lift it up the next morning, the worms will have come up to the surface under the cardboard.[8] Grab the worms before they wriggle back into the earth.
- Carefully dig around worms that resist. Worms are equipped with setae, which are bristles that help them move through the earth. This may make it difficult to pull worms directly out of the ground. Dig around a worm that is trying to burrow back into the ground, being careful not to cut the worm. Once you’ve loosened the soil, it will be easy to pluck the worm out and put it in your storage container.
- Continue digging until you’ve collected your worms. When you’ve exhausted a patch of ground, replace the soil and begin digging a new hole a couple feet away. Repeat the digging and searching process, and replace the soil when you are finished.
Collecting Worms During a Rainstorm
- Wait for a rainstorm. Worms are nocturnal and tend to spend their days below the surface. But since they require moisture to survive, rainstorms provide them the perfect opportunity to migrate above ground.[9] This is why you’ll often see worms slithering around on the grass or pavement during or after a storm.
- A daytime storm is an ideal time to collect worms without having to lose any sleep or dig.
- Do not try to collect worms when there’s lightning.
- Assemble your tools. All you need for this activity is a storage container filled with moist soil and leaves.
- Collect your worms. When the rain has stopped (or while it’s raining if you don’t mind getting wet), go outside and start to look for worms. Check on sidewalks, on driveways, and on the surface of lawns. Place any worms you find in your container.
- Worms can be slimy, so consider wearing gloves if you don’t want to get your hands dirty.
Coaxing Worms With Vibrations
- Learn about worm charming. Worm charming, also called worm grunting, is the process of using vibrations to entice earthworms out of the ground. The process works because worms instinctively flee to the surface when they sense the vibrations made by burrowing moles that prey on them. Recreating the vibrations made by moles will bring the earthworms right to you.[10]
- Assemble your tools and equipment. For this activity, you will need your worm container, a wooden stake that’s about two feet long with one pointed end and one flat end, and a one-inch thick metal file (known as a rooping iron).[11]
- Alternatively, you can use a handsaw if you don’t have a rooping iron, but you will likely also need a hammer to drive the stake into the ground.
- Select your location. A shady field or wooded area with damp soil is the best location for worm charming. Somewhere near a running stream or small body of water is even better.
- Drive the stake into the earth. Use the rooping iron or hammer to drive the stake about halfway into the ground.
- Run the rooping iron over the stake. To create the vibrations necessary to drive the worms from the ground, run the file (or the blade of the handsaw) over the flat top of the stake at a medium pace. The vibration created will travel through the earth, and as the earthworms sense it, they will make their way to the surface to escape the predator they think is near. Be ready to gather the worms as they surface and collect them in your container.
Tips
- Contrary to popular belief, most earthworms shouldn’t be refrigerated. Keep them in their container with moist soil and organic matter at room temperature and out of direct sunlight. Canadian nightcrawlers are the only worms that need cooler temperatures and refrigeration to survive.[12]
Sources and Citations
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from How to of the Day //www.wikihow.com/Gather-Earthworms
