“Right there” I say softly to my son, as my hand held spotlight finds its’ target.
“Keep your eye on it and move in very slowly so you don’t startle it” I whisper in the damp spring night air, as the rain falls steadily around us.
“Get him!”
And with that my son Bryan takes his shot, but in the blink of an eye his adversary makes an escape. In a mere fraction of a second what seemed like a sure fire bet was the first miss of the season for my son as his quarry quickly retracted itself through the grass and back into the whole from which it came.
“Don’t worry, you’ll get more chances.” I reassured my son as we continued our stalk.
Not more than 3 feet later there was another, and over there another, and another. With one miss after another my son began to get discouraged and a bit frustrated. I told him that it really could be done, and asked him to hold the light right on the next one so I could show him how it is done.
It didn’t take more than a few seconds to find another. I had Bryan hold the light steady as I cautiously observed my quarry. I paid attention to the direction it was slowly heading, and found exactly where it was coming from. I eased myself closer, and with a quick forward snap of my hand I had my prey. It fought fiercely to remove itself from my grip as the setae, or tiny bristles, on each of its’ body segments helped anchor it in place. But I didn’t give up. With a slow steady application of force to the neck area with a little jiggling motion I was able to get the first big fat night crawler of the season in my hand, and as my son swept the flashlight beam through the surrounding grass in our yard, it was obvious that the spring run of earthworms was on.
The snow is just about gone and the waters are flowing. The ground below the surface is becoming saturated and the worms know it. They have been hunkered down underground all winter just waiting for the spring rains to come. The night crawlers and worms come to the surface during rains (especially in the spring) so they can move overland. The temporarily wet conditions give worms a chance to move safely to new places. Since worms breathe through their skin, the skin must stay wet in order for the oxygen to pass through it. After rain or during high humidity are safe times for worms to move around without dehydrating. During these times is when it is ideal to try your hand at catching them.
“Catching worms? How hard can that be?” some might question.
Well my son will tell you first hand that if you are going to do it at night, spotting them with a flashlight, and grabbing them out of the grass before they escape is not all that simple. The worms’ ability to feel ground motions makes it extremely important to actually sneak up on them. A heavy foot placed on the ground can send night crawlers retreating in the blink of an eye back into the hole from which they came. If you happen to get close enough to make a grab for them, it only takes a slight brush of your finger against a blade of grass near the worm hole and they will disappear. But if you take your time, hold the light steady, it can be done and be very rewarding for the person who enjoys fishing with live bait. The good thing, especially this time of year, is that you don’t have to do it at night.
After having seen so many night crawlers and worms in the yard Friday night, I had a good feeling they would be out in full force for the first hour or two of daylight. Before the sun really gets to shining or the wind picks up, and when it is still wet from overnight or morning rain, earthworms can be found in large numbers on the grounds surface moving about freely during daylight hours. This morning was no exception.
My son and I had no sooner walked out the door to head to school and work and there they were. Worms and night crawlers were everywhere. Trails from where they slithered from one place to the next were criss crossing our driveway. The road was checked with tiny trough like trails that lead to worms of all sizes, each just sitting there for the picking. It really is quite the spectacle if you are in the right area, and even though we don’t use live bait for fishing, and I only pick and release, I always look forward to the first run of spring earthworms.
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