This past Saturday the United Kingdom hosted its 30th anniversary World Worm Charming Championships. Worm charming is a sport in which competitors use various methods to “charm” worms from their loamy abodes with methods including but not limited to: tap dancing, singing, stomping, and the usage of various contraptions that create vibrations on the 3×3 meter plots of ground. The competition lasts for only 30 minutes and no water is allowed—it sedates the worms. This year the winner was a ten year old girl who charmed 567 worms from the ground! It was a new world record.
Here’s a video about the contest:
ETA: At some point after this was posted, the embedding was disabled by request – click here to get an eyeful of worm charming!
Check out these books about charming worms of a different sort:
A Rogue of my Own
Now go out there and charm some worms!
–Bonnie