[NatureNS] Wood turtles and earthworms

Date: Mon, 18 Feb 2008 10:10:43 -0500
From: "Laviolette, Lance (EXP)" <lance.laviolette@lmco.com>
To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca
Thread-Topic: [NatureNS] Wood turtles and earthworms
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Hi everyone,
 
Another species known to exhibit this behaviour is the Black-bellied
Plover which uses a rapid foot movement on the tidal mudflats to
stimulate mud-dwelling worms/polychaetes (e.g. Glycera sp. = bloodworm)
to come to the surface. The nature of mud and its consistency changes
when pressure/vibration is applied so this may be one reason why the
behaviour works in the aquatic environment.
 
All the best,
 
Lance

=========================== 
Lance Laviolette 
Glen Robertson, Ontario 
lance.laviolette@lmco.com 
=========================== 


________________________________

	From: naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca
[mailto:naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca] On Behalf Of James W. Wolford
	Sent: Sunday, February 17, 2008 4:46 PM
	To: NatureNS@chebucto.ns.ca
	Subject: Fwd: [NatureNS] Wood turtles and earthworms
	
	

	Yes, I believe I have heard or read that they do stomp or tramp
the ground to stimulate the emergence of earthworms.  Similarly,
woodcocks have been observed on lawns doing a rhythmic rocking and
stomping motion with their feet, presumably again for the same reason.
Thanks for the note, Dave, and I'll pass this on to Tom Herman, John
Gilhen, and Fred Scott for their comments.

	Cheers from Jim in Wolfville
	



		From: David & Alison Webster <dwebster@glinx.com>
		Date: February 17, 2008 4:22:05 PM AST
		To: NatureNS@chebucto.ns.ca
		Subject: [NatureNS] Wood turtles and earthworms
		Reply-To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca

		Dear All,                Feb 17, 2008
		   I vaguely recall having mentioned this previously in
some context, but in the early 1970's while preparing sidewalls of soil
pits for mapping of apple roots we noticed that scraping the sidewall
with the edge of a small mason's trowel to smooth the surface stimulated
earthworms to emerge from the sidewall. This applied especially to rigid
(shatters under pressure but slakes in water) or compact soil.

		   I now notice that making use of this response is
called grunting (Nat. Hist. 8-13, Aug, 1989). In northern Florida,
earthworms are collected for bait by driving a wooden stake into the
ground and rasping against it with a notched stick or old car coil
spring. The vibrations induce the earthworms to emerge from the soil
surface.

		   This is all old news but even older news to Wood
Turtles in central Pennsylvania & New Jersey who stomp their fore feet
to induce earthworm emergence (& stomping by Wood Turtles has been
observed in Michigan and Wisconsin). Gulls and Plovers in Europe catch
earthworms in damp meadows by tramping rapidly with both feet
alternately or by vibrating one foot against the ground.

		   One Robin or one Ruffed Grouse can make an
astonishing of noise in dry leaves which leads me to wonder if this and
the gait of robins are also forms of grunting for earthworms.

		   And do out Wood turtles stomp ?

		Yours truly, Dave Webster, Kentville



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<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=152325914-18022008><FONT face=Arial 
color=#0000ff size=2>Hi everyone,</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=152325914-18022008><FONT face=Arial 
color=#0000ff size=2></FONT></SPAN>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=152325914-18022008><FONT face=Arial 
color=#0000ff size=2>Another species known to&nbsp;exhibit this 
behaviour&nbsp;is the&nbsp;Black-bellied Plover which uses a rapid foot movement 
on the tidal mudflats to stimulate mud-dwelling worms/polychaetes (e.g. 
<EM>Glycera</EM> sp. = bloodworm) to come to the surface. The nature of mud and 
its consistency changes when pressure/vibration is applied so this may be one 
reason why the behaviour works&nbsp;in the aquatic 
environment.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=152325914-18022008><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff 
size=2></FONT></SPAN>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=152325914-18022008><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>All 
the best,</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=152325914-18022008><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff 
size=2></FONT></SPAN>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=152325914-18022008><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff 
size=2>Lance</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><!-- Converted from text/rtf format -->
<P><SPAN lang=en-us><FONT face="Courier New" 
size=2>===========================</FONT></SPAN> <BR><SPAN lang=en-us><FONT 
face="Courier New" size=2>Lance Laviolette</FONT></SPAN> <BR><SPAN 
lang=en-us><FONT face="Courier New" size=2>Glen Robertson, Ontario</FONT></SPAN> 
<BR><SPAN lang=en-us><FONT face="Courier New" 
size=2>lance.laviolette@lmco.com</FONT></SPAN> <BR><SPAN lang=en-us><FONT 
face="Courier New" size=2>===========================</FONT></SPAN> 
</P><BR></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE 
style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
  <DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader lang=en-us dir=ltr align=left>
  <HR tabIndex=-1>
  <FONT face=Tahoma size=2><B>From:</B> naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca 
  [mailto:naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca] <B>On Behalf Of </B>James W. 
  Wolford<BR><B>Sent:</B> Sunday, February 17, 2008 4:46 PM<BR><B>To:</B> 
  NatureNS@chebucto.ns.ca<BR><B>Subject:</B> Fwd: [NatureNS] Wood turtles and 
  earthworms<BR></FONT><BR></DIV>
  <DIV></DIV><BR>
  <DIV>Yes, I believe I have heard or read that they do stomp or tramp the 
  ground to stimulate the emergence of earthworms.&nbsp; Similarly, woodcocks 
  have been observed on lawns doing a rhythmic rocking and stomping motion with 
  their feet, presumably again for the same reason.&nbsp; Thanks for the note, 
  Dave, and I'll pass this on to Tom Herman, John Gilhen, and Fred Scott for 
  their comments.</DIV>
  <DIV><BR class=khtml-block-placeholder></DIV>
  <