Worms!

[Fsappo]

I love to fish. I always think to myself "Hey nice catch there, you got about 5lbs of filets, thats like $20 worth of meat..quite a man you are" Then I figure the costs involved in catching those fish and well...you know how that goes. I always hear of catching nightcrawlers after the rain, blah blah. A few times I would go out at night with a flash light and look, never really saw much.

Anyhoo, last night I was walking to my neighbors across the lawn and saw a flash out of the corner of my eye. I looked closer and sure enough, there they were. In between the spots of snow, good healthy crawlers. So I grabbed a light and snagged about 40 of them (like 10 bucks worth if you had to buy them) I put them in a container with some leaves and stuff and plan to go out tonight to find more as the ground keeps thawing.

I've had worms stay alive for weeks in the fridge. Anyone had success keeping these little buggers alive? I tried a worm farm way back when and ended up with a bunch of dead worms.

If I got a large enough container and filled it with earth, kept it cool etc, I may be able to find a summers worth of worms in the next few days providing I dont kill em all. Just looking for other worm stories, ideas, suggestions etc. Lets have a worm chatt.

 

[mecreature]

a bucket of water with about a tablespoon of bleach will bring the worms to the surface.

I have heard that white vinegar will do the same thing.

dont use to much and they should be fine.

large containers with some compost will keep worms alive. I mean good compost

 

[Jags]

Worm bedding is very good at keeping the little crawlers kick'in. Line the bottom of your container with several layers of news paper first. Don't know why, but it works better. Cool and fed for long term keeping.

If storing in the fridge, keep them in the coldest part. They will even take to some light freezing and will last for quite a while.

 

[pastera]

I just toss my bark in a pile - dig through the pile and get plenty of fishing worms...


Aaron

 

[Fsappo]

Worm bedding is very good at keeping the little crawlers kick'in. Line the bottom of your container with several layers of news paper first. Don't know why, but it works better. Cool and fed for long term keeping.

If storing in the fridge, keep them in the coldest part. They will even take to some light freezing and will last for quite a while.

Hey Jags, what do you feed em with? I know people are refered to as worm food but I havent killed anyone recently. Dont need to bleach em out yet. There were about 4-5 per square yard and theres a hell of a lot more property to cover. Keep the suggestions coming. I'm lookin forward to free worms this fishing season.

 

[Delta-T]

worms like bread....not a joke. saw it on Dirty Jobs.

 

[Jags]

Hey Jags, what do you feed em with?

Next to the worm bedding, there will be a tubular container that is called "worm food". Only bother with this stuff if you are looking for LONG term storing. Also, after you catch a fresh batch of crawlers you can extend the lifetime of them by getting rid of the slime. Toss them into some shredded newspaper or some fairly dry worm bedding for a bit before transferring them to the long term storage.

 

[zzr7ky]

You can keep 'em a long while. I paid for a lot of toys as a kid that way. I also got dropped off at home by the Police a few times before they suggested I clear it with the larger property owners, and preffer school yards... The smaller lots where I had permission would get called in by nieghbors ; ).

It does work. there are nice containers made for this but plastic did work - air holes small, numerous, and at the top only. Mom must be bribed if not and avid fisher. Best keep 'freshly picked' in a smaller container for a week or 2 in case they have issues.

Enjoy!

 

[Fsappo]

Couldnt I just suck the slime offa them?
I'm trying to see if I can do this on the cheap, so I would rather toss some bread in there. When you say long term...my plan is getting a couple hundred and seeing if they last the summer.
so it looks like newspapers, stale bread. Thanks for the help guys.

 

[Jags]

Oh - and dead worms don't make good worm food. Same theory as one bad apple....

 

[Fsappo]

That may explain my failure from 20 years ago.

 

[Delta-T]

(in the voice of Bear Grylls) earthworms are full of vitamins and nutrients, but taste like squishy, gooey, sandy boogers. delicious

 

[woodsman23]

topsoil, compost, bread (old stale works best) 1/4" thick news paper at the bottom (moisture retainer and food) grass clippings, leafs, sticks, water but no so much water just moist and keep in dark COOL place, spot must be COOl always or they are gonners. I used to add ice to the top on the hottest days and they will last forever. vermiculite (sp) is also a great additive.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

They have always seemed to like my compost pile. I'd feed them compost.

Matt

 

[Dune]

Frank, rake up a pile of leaves somewhere in your yard. Whenever you want worms, pull back the leaves and catch fresh worms.

 

[Fsappo]

I thought of that Dune, but the wife may not go for it. She likes things tidy. Ok, part two of the question:
I went out last night for about a half hour and got about 2 dozen more. The frustrating part is, how to sneak up on those buggers. I'll see 10 in a small area, shine the light on them, 7 will go back into the ground and as I grab for one the others will go back down. I still got a couple dozen pretty quick, but I'm guessing they can sense the light and feel the vibrations as I get close.

I need to become the worm ninja.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

You can always try grunting...

http://vimeo.com/2543863


Matt

 

[Jags]

Low power lights also. They can't see, but they can feel the heat and ground vibration. Move slow.