Jun 11, 2009 6:09 pm US/Eastern
Researcher Studies The "Magic" Of Worm Grunters
TALLAHASSEE (CBS4) ―
In a forest near the Gulf of Mexico on the Florida panhandle, a group of men ply their trade in a most unusual way.
They are professional grunters who catch worms for bait. Their technique is so unusual that it even captured the attention of a university researcher.
Gary Revell admits it's a little weird but he is a professional worm grunter. Revell and his colleagues are up before sunrise every day, working deep in the Apalachicola Forest in a place called Tate's Hell where they have to contend with swarms of hungry mosquitoes, pestering gnats and poisonous snakes.
Their work begins when one of them drives a wooden stake, called a stob, into the ground and levels a 10-pound flat iron over the top. Then he slowly, rhythmically, rubs the iron over the stob, back and forth. The action causes a vibration in the ground and within moments, almost if by magic, big fat earthworms start to climb out of the soil.
The grunters then quickly gather up the harvest in their buckets.
"There's an art to it. I've tried to teach people how to do it, ya' know, and they just give up. They say they don't understand how we can get these worms out of the ground with this stuff," said Revell.
A researcher at Vanderbilt University wanted to understand the science behind worm grunting. So he watched Revell work his magic and concluded that rubbing the stob mimics the vibrations of a mole digging in the ground, trying to prey on the worms. So the worms climb out of the earth to avoid being eaten. Ironically, they end up as bait.
The worm grunters, who make about $25 a bucket, admit they're not getting rich, but it does pay the bills.
"You have to be really determined, you know. It's got to be in your blood to do this kind of work and be comfortable in the forest like we are," said Revell.
Revell adds that he's been catching worms in and around Tate's Hell for half a center and being a worm grunter is definitely in his blood.
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