Hundreds of competitors armed with an array of enticing tools attended this year’s World Worm Charming Championship in Cheshire, England. on Saturday (June 22).
Competitors are allotted a small plot of land and 30 minutes to charm the worms out of the ground and the winner is the one who draws out the largest number.
The World record was originally set by Tom Shufflebotham in 1980, who raised 511 worms.
Contestants cannot use drugs, or stimulants, or even entice the worms to the surface using water. But anything else seems to go from didgeridoos, to saxophones, forks and pots and pans. And some even exercised their powers of charming persuasion through song.
“We thought we would try doing it with dressing up and singing as well, and we still haven’t caught any worms,” said one competitor, Chris White.
One apparently successful method was to use a hand to vibrate a four-tray garden fork, inserted approximately 15 cm into the turf. This is known in South Cheshire as ‘twanging’ but there is strictly no digging allowed.
This year’s winner, Alex Godfrey, charmed 195 worms out of the earth with rocking vibrations. She said it was a team effort.
“We just used two garden forks and kind of rocked them back and forth,” Godfrey said.
SOURCE: REUTERS
