Catching sand worms
The other weekend a guy from church (let's call him Phil) invited us to go worming. At first I was like.... worming? As in getting worms? From the beach? (Then again, I live in Australia and really should have seen something like this coming. (For example, I have a friend whose brother had a pet snake. They were driving somewhere and the snake was in the car, then the snake was still in the car and no longer in the cage. To this day, they haven't found the snake. (AAAAHHHH!!!) Then some people eat green ants. And they taste nice, apparently. I just.... What even. No. DON'T EAT ANTS PEOPLE.))
So we were like, sure, what could go wrong? We met up at the beach and Phil brought his 6ish month old son, who was absolutely adorable. (He stole my hat halfway down the beach and chewed on it. Yep, I was overpowered and mugged by a six-month-old.) We drove about a kilometre or two down the beach (it was one of the beaches that we were allowed to drive down) then we parked and walked down to the water.
Phil grabbed a bucket of dead, frozen and mostly gutted fish and passed them out. Now, for the record I wasn't terribly pleased with clutching a half-frozen fish with intestines hanging out everywhere, but I prevailed and did my best. Mom hung out with the baby while my brother wandered off to build a sandcastle somewhere. My sister, dad and I got to work with Phil.
As a wave rushed back out to the ocean, Phil swirled his fish back and forth in the water. Every once and a while, a little mound of sand would appear and a beach worm would pop its head up, looking for that tasty fish. He let the worm latch onto the fish (the worm's head looked like a mole's, with lots of tentacles and sucky things that waved everywhere. It wasn't very pretty). Then, Phil dug his fingers, very slowly, into the sand behind the worm, got ahold of it and yanked it up before the worm could disappear back into the sand. The worms were usually about a meter/three feet long.
The first time he pulled one out, we all stood back and stared, flabbergasted. LIKE DUDE I'VE SWAM HERE BEFORE AND NOW YOU'RE TELLING ME THAT ENORMOUS BEACH WORMS OF TERROR ARE RIGHT UNDERNEATH MY FEET, READY TO LEAP UP WITH A FEROCIOUS GROWL AND EAT ME? (*sighs* Welcome to Australia.)
So anyways, we got right in there. They were easy enough to find, but the difficult part was going slowly enough so they didn't pop right back into the sand before you could pull them out. Every time I had one distracted with the fish, I'd dig around it only to feel it slip between my fingers once it realised I was there. Phil got a few more, and my sister managed to get one. Dad and I were left empty-handed.
When the tide started coming back in, we decided that enough was enough. We had a few worms to use as bait the next time Phil went fishing (they sold for like $3 each, they're expensive bait) and they weren't poking their heads out of the sand anymore. Unfortunately, I didn't catch one even though I really wanted to. (Next time?) (Also, I was joking about the worms eating you. Come to Australia! It's gorgeous here! You just don't hear lots about the beach worms in the travel brochures, mostly because you don't see them if you're not actively looking for them.)
Would you ever go worming? Did you know beach worms existed? Has a baby ever stolen something of yours then chewed on it?
So we were like, sure, what could go wrong? We met up at the beach and Phil brought his 6ish month old son, who was absolutely adorable. (He stole my hat halfway down the beach and chewed on it. Yep, I was overpowered and mugged by a six-month-old.) We drove about a kilometre or two down the beach (it was one of the beaches that we were allowed to drive down) then we parked and walked down to the water.
Phil grabbed a bucket of dead, frozen and mostly gutted fish and passed them out. Now, for the record I wasn't terribly pleased with clutching a half-frozen fish with intestines hanging out everywhere, but I prevailed and did my best. Mom hung out with the baby while my brother wandered off to build a sandcastle somewhere. My sister, dad and I got to work with Phil.
As a wave rushed back out to the ocean, Phil swirled his fish back and forth in the water. Every once and a while, a little mound of sand would appear and a beach worm would pop its head up, looking for that tasty fish. He let the worm latch onto the fish (the worm's head looked like a mole's, with lots of tentacles and sucky things that waved everywhere. It wasn't very pretty). Then, Phil dug his fingers, very slowly, into the sand behind the worm, got ahold of it and yanked it up before the worm could disappear back into the sand. The worms were usually about a meter/three feet long.
The first time he pulled one out, we all stood back and stared, flabbergasted. LIKE DUDE I'VE SWAM HERE BEFORE AND NOW YOU'RE TELLING ME THAT ENORMOUS BEACH WORMS OF TERROR ARE RIGHT UNDERNEATH MY FEET, READY TO LEAP UP WITH A FEROCIOUS GROWL AND EAT ME? (*sighs* Welcome to Australia.)
So anyways, we got right in there. They were easy enough to find, but the difficult part was going slowly enough so they didn't pop right back into the sand before you could pull them out. Every time I had one distracted with the fish, I'd dig around it only to feel it slip between my fingers once it realised I was there. Phil got a few more, and my sister managed to get one. Dad and I were left empty-handed.
When the tide started coming back in, we decided that enough was enough. We had a few worms to use as bait the next time Phil went fishing (they sold for like $3 each, they're expensive bait) and they weren't poking their heads out of the sand anymore. Unfortunately, I didn't catch one even though I really wanted to. (Next time?) (Also, I was joking about the worms eating you. Come to Australia! It's gorgeous here! You just don't hear lots about the beach worms in the travel brochures, mostly because you don't see them if you're not actively looking for them.)
Would you ever go worming? Did you know beach worms existed? Has a baby ever stolen something of yours then chewed on it?
I've never heard of beach worms. They sounds weird. XD I probably would've given Phil the same look too! But it does sound interesting and fun! Worming.
ReplyDeleteI love your style, you're very funny. :) I really enjoy your blog.
I suppose it's just something you'd never even think could exist unless you've been told. Ha, yeah, I think Phil was pretty freaked out when I kept staring at him like, "dude, are you actually serious?"
DeleteThank you so much! That means so much to me. (And your blog is pretty awesome as well :))
Oh goodness, I hate the English language. We used a lot of American spelling when I was in elementary school, but some of it was English spelling and now I'm just a mess. Because obviously organize is with a "z" and not an "s" but colour has a "u" because logic. *sobs*
ReplyDeleteI wasn't too concerned about the welfare of the worms, I suppose. I was more worried about the fish guts getting all over my hands and the need to catch one of those disappearing Houdini worms.
*waves back*
I have never ever heard of that, but it had me cringing the whole time. A METER LONG? No thank you! There's something about worms that make me so repulsed.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, this was a fun story. Thanks for sharing it!
*CRINGES LOUDLY* (It's possible, trust me.) But it wasn't actually as bad as I would have thought it'd be. It was more cool and weird than disgusting (and there was always that competition because I *had* to get one before my sister or dad did (and I obviously failed at that)) but there definitely was that element of gross to it. I'm glad you enjoyed it!
DeleteYour sister sounds pretty awesome :) And the worms sound pretty cool, too!
ReplyDelete*salutes*
DeleteWorming? WORMING?
ReplyDeleteDude, if anyone invites me to go 'worming' whether in real life or on the internet Imma run a mile away from them. No, two no I'm moving to England!
I KNOW I WAS LIKE DUDE WHAT EVEN???!!?
DeleteThat's probably a smart move. Although I would actually recommend going if you get the chance, because it was a super cool experience and makes for a really good story.