This weird trick will help you summon an army of worms - Kenny Coogan

譯者: Fred Tsang 審譯者: Helen Chang

In the middle of Florida’s Apalachicola National Forest,

在佛羅里達州 阿巴拉契科拉國家森林公園中部，

a bizarre, almost magical scene is unraveling.

一個奇異的，近乎神奇的場景正在解開。

Sliding a metal strip over a wooden stake,

將金屬條滑過木樁，

a master summoner is sending deep croaking noises reverberating through the area.

一位主召喚師發出的低沉呱呱聲， 在這片區域迴盪。

And, as if in a trance,

而且，彷彿在恍惚中，

hundreds of earthworms begin emerging from the soil.

數以百計的蚯蚓開始從土壤中冒出來。

This is worm grunting, also called worm charming or fiddling.

這就是蚯蚓召喚術， 也稱為蠕蟲迷幻術或木杆取蚓。

It’s a tradition that’s been practiced for more than a century,

這是一個 已經實踐了一個多世紀的傳統，

but its inner workings were a mystery until only recently.

但直到最近， 它的內部運作都還是一個謎。

Worms collectively undertaking an underground exodus

蠕蟲集體進行地下逃亡

seems especially unbelievable when you consider how vulnerable this makes them.

當您考慮到這使他們變得多麼脆弱時， 這似乎尤其令人難以置信。

So why is surfacing worth the risk?

那麼為什麼來到地面值得冒險呢？

Over the years, people have proposed a number of imaginative hypotheses.

多年來， 人們提出了許多富有想像力的假設。

One was that worms were somehow charmed by the noise,

一是蚯蚓被噪音迷住了，

like the rats from the medieval Pied Piper legend.

就像中世紀 Pied Piper 傳說 中的老鼠一樣。

Okay, sounds fun, but how would the worms actually become bewitched?

好吧，聽起來很有趣，但是這些蚯蚓 實際上是如何被蠱惑的呢？

Another hypothesis was that worm grunting tickled their bodies,

另一個假設是召喚蚯蚓的咕嚕聲 會撓它們的身體的癢，

so they emerged to end the aggravation.

所以他們出現以免癢的受不了。

Whimsical!

異想天開！

But worm grunting vibrates the ground’s surface.

因爲吸引蚯蚓的咕嚕聲 是從地表傳下去的。

If worms were evading the vibrations, wouldn't they burrow deeper instead?

如果蚯蚓躲避振動， 難道不會鑽得更深嗎？

Perhaps the most popular hypothesis was that worm grunting mimicked falling rain

也許最流行的假設是 吸引蚯蚓的咕嚕聲模仿了下雨

and the worms fled to avoid drowning.

蚯蚓逃跑以避免溺水。

In 2008, biologist Kenneth Catania tested this hypothesis,

2008 年，生物學家 Kenneth Catania 檢驗了這一假設，

setting up three arenas filled with soil

他做了三個填滿土壤的培養皿

and 300 individuals of the large species of earthworm

放進去了 300 只

found in the Florida Panhandle.

從佛羅里達狹地找到的大型蚯蚓。

After an hour of rain, water had pooled at the surface,

下了一個小時的雨後， 水面已經積水，

but only two earthworms emerged.

但只出現了兩條蚯蚓。

The rest remained buried and healthy.

其餘的仍然健康地活在地下。

So, unlike those containers, this hypothesis just didn’t hold water.

因此，與那些容器不同， 這個假設站不住腳。

Catania decided to explore another route of inquiry.

Catania 決定探索另一條調查路線。

In 1881, Charles Darwin published his final work,

1881 年，查爾斯·達爾文 發表了他的最後一部作品，

a bestseller that rivaled his most well-known books at the time:

與他當時最知名的書籍 相媲美的暢銷書：

“The Formation of Vegetable Mould, Through the Action of Worms,

《腐殖土的形成，通過蚯蚓的作用，

with Observations on their Habits.”

以及觀察他們的習慣》

Yes, it was literally called that—

是的，它的字面意思是——

and it was the culmination of 40 years of earthworm investigations.

這是 40 年蚯蚓調查的巔峯。

Within it, Darwin noted that worms sometimes left their burrows

在其中，達爾文注意到地面震動時， 蚯蚓有時會離開它們的洞穴，

when the ground trembled and mentioned an interesting hypothesis:

他提到一個有趣的假設：

maybe they flee because they believe they’re being pursued by moles.

也許牠們逃跑 是因為牠們覺得正在被鼴鼠追趕。

Catania got to work testing this hypothesis himself.

Catania 開始親自測試這個假設。

He found that Eastern moles had astounding tracking abilities,

他發現東方鼴鼠具有驚人的追踪能力，

could eat their weight in worms every day,

每天都能吃掉與其體重相當的蚯蚓，

and were abundant in the Florida Panhandle.

並且大量存在與在佛羅里達狹地。

When Catania released a single mole into worm- and soil-filled arenas,

當 Catania 將一只鼴鼠釋放到 充滿蚯蚓和土壤的培養皿中時，

about 30% of the worms crawled to the surface in the first hour—

大約 30% 的蚯蚓 在第一個小時內爬到了地面—

a markedly different result from the control and rain trials.

迥異於對照試驗和降雨試驗的結果。

And when he recorded the vibrations produced

他錄下召喚蚯蚓 和鼴鼠挖掘時所產生的振動，

by worm grunters and moles digging,

their frequencies overlapped substantially.

發現它們的頻率基本重疊。

This was it.

就是這樣。

Over hundreds of thousands of years,

數十萬年來，

these earthworms evolved a behavior that helped them escape a top predator.

這些蚯蚓進化出一種 幫助它們逃離頂級捕食者的行為。

Aboveground, they were immune to the moles,

在地上，鼴鼠不再是牠們的威脅，

which usually stayed subterranean.

因爲鼴鼠通常在地下活動。

But then humans came along.

但隨後人類出現了。

And, funnily enough, we aren’t even the only ones

而且，有趣的是， 我們甚至不是唯一會

that take advantage of this behavior.

利用這種行為的人。

Herring gulls and wood turtles also sometimes drum their feet on the earth

鯡鷗和木龜有時也用腳在地上敲打

to summon worms.

召喚蚯蚓。

So then why does this behavior persist?

那麼為什麼這種行為會持續存在呢？

Scientists think it’s beneficial for a prey species

科學家認為，對被捕食者來說，

to maintain its adaptations against a more frequent predator,

保持這樣的行爲 有利於應對更頻繁的捕食者，

even if it makes it more vulnerable to a rarer one.

即使這樣會使牠們 受到罕見捕食者的攻擊。

Many insects, for example, use flight to avoid predation.

例如，許多昆蟲利用飛行來避免捕食。

But painted redstarts take advantage of this:

但是彩色的紅尾鴝利用了這一點：

they boldly flash their colorful tail and wing feathers to elicit this response,

他們大膽地展示出五顏六色的尾巴 和翅膀的羽毛來引發這種反應，

then catch the insects as they try to fly away.

然後在昆蟲試圖飛走時抓住牠們。

It seems the prey species’ response remains

看似被捕食者沒有特殊反應

simply because it’s beneficial most of the time.

只因為大多數時候 這樣做都是是有益的。

For over a century, humans in the southern US, the UK, and elsewhere

一個多世紀以來， 美國南部、英國和其他地方的人

have been unknowingly exploiting the worm’s escape response.

一直在不知其所以然的情況下 利用蚯蚓的逃逸反應。

The current world record for “most worms charmed”

目前“召喚最多蚯蚓”的世界紀錄

was set by a 10-year-old British girl in 2009.

是由一名 10 歲的英國女孩 在 2009 年創造的。

Wiggling a fork in the ground and hitting it with a stick,

她把草叉插到地上， 並用棍子敲打，

she made 567 worms surface in just 30 minutes.

在短短 30 分鐘內 使 567 條蚯蚓浮出地面。

Charming, really.

真迷人。