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Charles Madsen
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00:00My name's Mike Rowe, and this is my job.
00:06I explore the country looking for people who aren't afraid to get dirty.
00:10As you can see, the fur...
00:11That skunk has never smelled worse.
00:14Hard-working men and women who earn an honest living...
00:17This state-of-the-art park, this is how we go.
00:19...doing the kinds of jobs that make civilized life possible for the rest of us.
00:23Now get ready.
00:25To get dirty.
00:26Coming up on Dirty Jobs.
00:30You can't rush greatness.
00:32And the men of the St. Teresa Clam Company raise some of the greatest-tasting clams anywhere.
00:36Slowly.
00:37Now what do you call them if they're not traps there?
00:39They are...
00:41Bags. Clam bags.
00:45Everybody here talks and moves at his own pace.
00:48And if you try to speed things up, bad things can happen.
00:51Oh!
00:53And later.
00:53What are you doing, man?
00:54Man, I'm getting worms up this morning.
00:57Many jobs cause you to grunt while you work.
01:00On this one, the grunting is the work.
01:02I feel dirty.
01:03It's like the morning after my Wednesday night Mexican meals.
01:06Yeah, it's a little hot sauce now.
01:08It's how to get worms out of the ground so you can sell them.
01:11But before you can sell them, you've got to find them.
01:13I don't see them.
01:14You've got to see them.
01:15I don't see them.
01:16Look at your feet, man.
01:17There he is.
01:18I don't know how I could have missed them.
01:19Brown and identical and everything around them.
01:21Oh, God.
01:32Flew into Tallahassee last night.
01:39Landed.
01:40Drove down to Crawfordville about half hour from there.
01:43Got up this morning, left Crawfordville, drove another half hour due south to St. James Island,
01:48which is where I am now. Specifically, this is Alligator Point, and out there is Alligator Harbor.
01:54Alligator Harbor is unique because it's one of the few harbors in Florida that's not fed directly by a river,
01:58which means the salt content of the water in Alligator Harbor is unusually high,
02:03which in turn means that the clams that make their home in Alligator Harbor taste unusually good.
02:10That's what I've heard anyway. I'm on my way now to the St. Teresa Clam Company to confirm all that I've just told you.
02:18The official name for this place is the Alligator Harbor Aquatic Preserve.
02:23It's four and a half miles long, a mile and a half wide, and it's been a preserve since 1969.
02:28Well, this is it. The St. Teresa Clam Company.
02:32How's up? How you doing?
02:34I'm good. This is Clayton.
02:36Got it.
02:36And that's Bruce.
02:37Yes.
02:38And this is Chip.
02:39Who's St. Teresa?
02:40That's my wife's name.
02:41Oh, is that right?
02:43Well, give her my regards.
02:45And you guys are the St. Teresa Clam Company?
02:48We are.
02:49We're a wholesale clam company, which allows us to sell to the bottom.
02:58Clam harvesting is heavily regulated by the state of Florida.
03:01Thus, they require harvesters to purchase leases.
03:04Each lease is identified by PVC poles, which mark off 800-foot by 80-foot plots.
03:11You can fit a million or more clams on a lease.
03:16That's pretty dense.
03:17That's pretty dense.
03:17A million clams on each lease?
03:19On an acre and a half lease.
03:22We are going to pull clams that were planted roughly a year and a half ago.
03:28So, how far out do we go to where the, uh, now, what do you call them?
03:32If they're not traps, they're, they're, what?
03:35They are bags.
03:39Clam bags, Mark.
03:41So, evidently, these clams are sitting on the bottom of the sea floor in large bags.
03:46These hardworking men placed them there 12 to 16 months ago when they were small baby clams.
03:52Now, they're all grown up.
03:54Waiting for Clayton to get an order from either a seafood house or a wholesale distributor,
03:59which has indeed come to pass.
04:01Let's go get some clams.
04:02We're going to throw one up just for you.
04:05Full of clams.
04:06Full of clams.
04:07All right.
04:07You're going to, you'll see a clam and a clam.
04:09Chip, just take us where we need to be, ma'am.
04:11To get that anchor.
04:12This is quite straight in front of us.
04:13You'll want to.
04:14This anchor?
04:15I'm going to get past it a little bit.
04:17You'll want to throw it off to this side.
04:20All right.
04:20I want to hold that rope in one hand, too.
04:23Kind of let it slide through your fingers there so we don't lose it.
04:29How deep's the water?
04:30Four foot.
04:32Oh, that's not bad.
04:34All righty then.
04:36We've made it.
04:37All right.
04:37And, uh, we're looking at, again, leases,
04:39as indicated by these, uh, white PVC poles jutting up all over the place.
04:44Right.
04:45There are 46 of them out here.
04:47After a hurricane a while back,
04:50the oystermans tore up a lot of oyster beds,
04:54and it was a way to give income to oystermans.
04:57What the heck is biting me, by the way?
04:59Yellow flies.
04:59That is a yellow fly.
05:00Yellow flies?
05:01They're annoying, aren't they?
05:02They are.
05:03To put it mildly.
05:04Bruce, you look like you took a couple shots there on your leg already.
05:06I neglected to wear my long pants, and...
05:09Should I have worn long pants?
05:10Well, it's too late now.
05:13Once you guys locate your clans and whatnot,
05:16we're going to swing this boom out over the side of the boat.
05:18Okay.
05:19Drop that lead weight on your head, if I can possibly arrange that.
05:22All right, that'd be great.
05:23It's a little game I play.
05:24You're a prankster, Bruce, aren't you?
05:25Can be.
05:26Might want to wash that out when you get in the water.
05:29I do believe the last user may have sneezed in it.
05:31Something about dirty jobs, you know.
05:33You snuck right on in there, didn't you?
05:37Yeah.
05:40The crew tell me that the bags are laid out end-to-end,
05:43literally covering the seafloor.
05:45Chip, you're looking around with your feet right now for bags.
05:47Yeah, I'm feeling the edge of the bag to find the corner.
05:50And you've done that with your feet?
05:51Yes, I'm standing on one right now.
05:52Okay.
05:53Are they just one in a row going all the way that way?
05:56Actually, it's rows of five, like between this pole and that pole.
06:00Uh-huh.
06:01And it's just rows.
06:03And there's space about this far apart from each other.
06:06It's just rows of five.
06:07Running all the way from that end to the other end of the lease.
06:10I mean, you're talking tens of thousands of...
06:13Yeah, there's about a million and a half on this lease.
06:15That's many tens of thousands.
06:17Mm-hmm.
06:17And there's a metal pin that we use when we stake them down.
06:20You want to get that pin out of the way.
06:22Will you be able to see anything at all?
06:24Or are you just pretty much...
06:24Limited about, maybe about a foot.
06:26All right.
06:27And then once you start stirring all that mud off,
06:30you won't be seeing very much at all then.
06:33Quickly.
06:38There's the pin I'm telling you about.
06:40There's a base on the soil.
06:41That was in the middle of the bag?
06:42Right on each corner.
06:44Okay.
06:50That's the thing.
06:52All right.
06:53That's the other step.
06:54The next step is to swing that boomerang.
06:59Right.
07:01Each bag contains 900 to 1,000 grown clams.
07:05On a typical day, Clayton, Chip, and Bruce
07:08harvest 10,000 to 15,000 of them.
07:10That's over half a million a year.
07:13That's a lot of chowder.
07:14How much does the bag weigh when it's full like this?
07:18When it's first full of mud and clams,
07:21it's probably in the neighborhood 250, 300 grand.
07:25So we need the...
07:26We need the bench.
07:28Absolutely.
07:30You want to explain about the sea squirts?
07:32Sea squirts?
07:33Yeah.
07:34I'm real sure.
07:36Yeah.
07:37Wow, that's a shame.
07:40What the heck?
07:41What are they called again?
07:42Sea squirts?
07:43This is just a bad-looking thing.
07:46It comes squirting out at you.
07:48Probably.
07:51You want to take these off as it comes up.
07:54Grab this one here.
07:56You want to grab the other two plants.
08:00You're trying to get the mud off the plants.
08:02Yeah.
08:04You need to get up on the way.
08:06How many bags are we going to pull up when we get it?
08:13Seven.
08:13Seven.
08:14All right.
08:15I think we got it down.
08:16So what do I do with this breath?
08:17I just pull the pit out.
08:18Yeah, just get the pin up.
08:22Unfortunately for me, as the clams grow,
08:25they bury themselves six to 12 inches into the muddy bottom.
08:28Are you sure there's a bag right there?
08:30Oh, there's one there.
08:32So the bag's buried.
08:33Pretty much.
08:34It's just that I'm just looking for a piece of...
08:36Out of the mud.
08:37Hold on.
08:37I found a bag.
08:38Okay, hold on.
08:51Damn it.
08:52It's hermetically sealed to the bottom.
08:55Am I supposed to be using this to dig it out?
08:57No, just your hand.
09:00Some of them are buried up pretty good on them corners.
09:03You got to kind of work your hand under there.
09:05You want to let us get this one up out of the way
09:07and maybe the next one we bury this thing?
09:10No, Clayton, now it's personal.
09:12You in the bag now.
09:13Bado or bag-o?
09:14I got a big picture.
09:22All righty then.
09:34Yeah, I got it.
09:35Things are buried.
09:36They are absolutely buried.
09:39The whole bag is underneath the mud, you know,
09:41and these pins, you can't tell if you're in a corner
09:43or in the middle.
09:44You can't see anything.
09:45You pull them out, and then you're underneath,
09:47and you got to somehow find the clams,
09:49which are always on the side of the bag where you're not,
09:51and you got to muscle a few of them into the corner,
09:54tie the corner off.
09:55That's what I've been doing for the last 10 minutes.
09:58Coming up.
09:59Why didn't you just tell me right from the start
10:00what a pain in the neck this was?
10:01Well.
10:02The water is only four feet deep,
10:04and yet I am still in over my head.
10:06Yes, because I only brought my one-armed grandmother out
10:09for the first time.
10:10I see, now we start with the one-armed grandmother.
10:12I see, and she did great, right?
10:14And later.
10:15Mississippium diplocardia.
10:16He's the only worm that I know that's attracted
10:19to this vibration that'll surface.
10:20I'm looking for a worm with a fancy name
10:23using the simplest of tools.
10:24This is a piece of iron.
10:25Yes.
10:26And that's a piece of wood.
10:27That's basic wood.
10:28And a little sweet talk.
10:29Oh, you like that, don't you?
10:30You like that, Mr. Worm.
10:32How's your daddy?
10:33In my line of work, it's important that my clothes are comfortable.
10:43The shorts you've provided, I'm grateful.
10:45And that I fit in with my coworkers.
10:47We got no sleeves.
10:48Is this a thing for you?
10:50Oh, this is dress code.
10:51I notice you don't bother with the gloves.
10:53No, I don't need them.
10:55Some have gloves, some don't have gloves.
10:56It's hard to know what to do in a situation like that
10:58when your ultimate goal is to fit in.
11:00But the main reason for wearing these clothes is for protection.
11:04Is this all part of the safety gear?
11:06This whole look you got?
11:11Yeah, we've got a hole here, so...
11:14You know what?
11:15I did that.
11:16That first pin was stuck.
11:17I panicked.
11:18I started yanking on it.
11:20And I heard a tearing sound.
11:22Yes, that would have been the bag, Mike.
11:24For a moment, I thought it was me,
11:25but it was definitely the bag.
11:27Okay.
11:28I apologize.
11:30From time to time,
11:31awkward moments happen on dirty jobs.
11:34This is one of them.
11:35You can have Bill Eyre for that.
11:39We've got a lot to do.
11:40Let's go with as much feet as we can.
11:43See, the problem is right now,
11:45I mean, we're doing stuff now with our feet,
11:47but nobody can see it.
11:48Right, we're actually searching.
11:50It's just not the kind of Emmy-nominated footage
11:52we're used to putting on the air.
11:54All right.
11:56Whop his head when he comes up.
12:03God, that's annoying.
12:12Okay, Mike, I got you a corner right here.
12:15I've got the pin pulled up
12:17where you can just grab it,
12:18and I'll stand back out of the way.
12:20Oh, that just makes me feel good.
12:21Are you ready?
12:28Ah, good job there, Mike.
12:30Why don't you just tell me right from the start
12:31what a pain in the neck this was?
12:33Well, yes.
12:33This is a huge pain in the neck.
12:35Yesterday we brought the one-armed grandmother
12:37out for the first time.
12:39I see.
12:39Now we start with the one-armed grandmother.
12:41I see.
12:41And she did great, right?
12:42She spit her teeth out,
12:43held her breath for four minutes,
12:44and with one arm pulled up
12:45a hundred bags at a time.
12:46I know, I know.
12:52Hang on to it, Mike.
12:56And I got it.
12:58Man!
12:58They look great.
12:59All right.
13:00Hit it, Bruce.
13:01Job well done.
13:15Better than that.
13:16It's the job half done.
13:18Where do we go, Chip?
13:18We're going to empty them
13:19into these baskets.
13:24All right.
13:25So we got seven bags of these things?
13:27Mm-hmm.
13:28And the job now is to get them
13:29out of the bag and into...
13:30Into the baskets.
13:31...someplace else.
13:33Bruce, how you making out?
13:34You comfortable?
13:34Good.
13:34Can I get you anything?
13:35No, I'm good, thanks.
13:36All right.
13:37And then just pull that basket out right there.
13:39I haven't got a cold beer anywhere, do you?
13:54You know, a lot of people don't realize
13:56that Florida's rapidly become right at one of the top of these,
14:02or not the top, but up there with them in the country.
14:06This gets the word out, which is a great thing.
14:10Unfortunately, nobody really watches this show.
14:14Yeah, there is that.
14:16Roughly seven bushels of clams.
14:18Now we're going to head back to the shop.
14:22We're here?
14:22Watch out!
14:23This is our tumbler.
14:25We dump them up in here.
14:26You can see it's on an incline.
14:28Most of the dead shell falls through.
14:31All right, so we dump them in?
14:33Yes, we do.
14:33You see, like, that little shell there?
14:44Yep.
14:45That's about the size when we first put them in.
14:50That's what they're growing from, like a little fingernail.
14:52Yeah, so that's one that didn't make it at all.
14:59All right, there's the dead one.
15:01Nothing dead.
15:02And by dead, it's just gone.
15:04Our purpose is to get them out of there
15:07so the customer gets good healthy clams.
15:13Coming up.
15:14What is the machine called?
15:16Grader, grader, sorter.
15:19Don't count on making the grade
15:20until all the clams are in the bag.
15:22Uh-oh.
15:23Those bags might be short.
15:26And later.
15:26Look at that.
15:27They're coming up everywhere.
15:28I'm on fire.
15:29I'm a worm grunt.
15:30Maniac.
15:31He's an amateur, and he's showing me up this morning.
15:34As the worms turn, I learn that there's a lot at stake in the Florida swamp.
15:38When we're done worm grunt, we can go ahead and kill us a vampire.
15:40Right.
15:41When it comes to safety gear, the accessories are just as important as the clothes.
15:52What's the difference between this one?
15:53This one is tied to your rear.
15:54The earring on the back of your tied ear.
15:55Not my rear, per se.
15:57I need protection for my eyes.
15:59Why are your glasses seemingly more sophisticated than mine?
16:02Because mine are what we call here Batman glasses.
16:05Ah!
16:06My ears.
16:08Would you like some earplugs?
16:09What's that?
16:10Earplugs.
16:10What's that?
16:11Earplugs.
16:12You want your gloves?
16:13No.
16:14Nope.
16:14Gloves are for girls.
16:15And my hands.
16:16Why do you keep grabbing the hot step?
16:18I just figured with the fancy space-age gloves you gave me, I'd be able to touch something from
16:22time to time.
16:22This is very sophisticated.
16:27Look at all these electronics.
16:29Mm-hmm.
16:29And the lights, they flash.
16:31You got flashing lights, too?
16:33And flickers.
16:34What is the machine called?
16:37Grater, grater, sorter.
16:39Clam grater, sorter.
16:40The clam, depending on what size it is, comes riding down through this track.
16:47If it comes along and drops, it counts it.
16:51And we're going to hang bags on these big pieces of PVC, mashed bags.
16:56Yeah.
16:56We can set it to run whatever we want in the bag, 100, 200, 400.
17:03Those are your normal counts.
17:05Very clever.
17:06But when it gets to the count we've set it at, it'll tell it to flip, and it'll flip over
17:12like that to this side.
17:15You will be taking the bags off and putting new bags on.
17:21Pay attention, class.
17:22There are four different colors of bags, each representing a different size clam.
17:26From red, being the smallest, to yellow, for the big ones.
17:30I'm going to be up on the machine watching the counter.
17:34The sorting machine's already been programmed with the customer's orders.
17:38For example, 100 small clams will go to such and such a market.
17:41Or 400 large clams are on their way to such and such a restaurant.
17:45100, 200, red, white, blue.
17:48Like our animals.
17:49It's my job to remove the bags when the orders are filled and replace them with new bags.
17:54Got it?
17:55No?
17:55Me either.
17:56Here we go.
18:09Okay, your red just flipped.
18:11Red just flipped.
18:14And your white has just flipped.
18:16Uh-oh.
18:17Those bags might be short.
18:19Okay, the white flipped too, so we need to take it off.
18:25Oh yeah, just flipped.
18:26It blew his flip, right?
18:28So you can take that on off.
18:30Oh!
18:31With this machine, amazingly, they can sort 10,000 clams in just one hour.
18:36And how do we seal these up?
18:37And how do we seal these up?
18:38Air stapler.
18:40Yeah, you got it.
18:42Oh.
18:43Another one of those machines that can make anybody talk.
18:46If you get distracted, stifling or something, then you'll forget you didn't put a bag back on there.
18:51Yeah.
18:52And then they're on the floor.
18:54Blue just flipped.
18:55I need a blue one back on there.
18:58I tell you, it can make you, uh, what's the word?
19:14Okay, crazy.
19:15The sound and the running and the concentrating.
19:17How many have we done so far?
19:19About 3,200, 3,300.
19:22What do you say we, uh, you know, maybe cook up a few and eat them?
19:25I think it sounds like a great idea.
19:28What are you guys going to eat?
19:32We were hoping you might share a few of those.
19:35I might, I might share.
19:37Grab one.
19:37Clayton, grab half of one.
19:40They're delicious.
19:42Salty, aren't they?
19:43Can't just eat one.
19:45No, they're like potato chips that way.
19:46They'll ship these all over the planet, right?
19:47We'll give it our best, but mainly in the U.S.
19:50And they're getting something that's been out of the water less than 24 hours.
19:55Out of the water less than 24 hours.
19:57Yeah.
19:57Lady, gentleman, whatever you are, thank you.
20:05Coming up.
20:06A little disco.
20:07It's sounding good to you.
20:09Feeling good, sounding good.
20:10Worms are having a ball.
20:11Everybody's dancing.
20:12When you've got your groove on as a grunter, the worms aren't the only ones who feel moved.
20:17Without me, you're kind of wanting a wig.
20:20Whatever makes you happy, Gary.
20:23And later.
20:24Now, when he goes to release these castings, he'll turn upside down, and he just, these
20:29castings, see?
20:30The old saying goes that the cream always rises.
20:34They're pooping up in the air.
20:35Right.
20:35And that's why all the castings are on the top.
20:38When it comes to worms, so does something else.
20:40Basically, their whole body is an intestine, and they're just wringing themselves out.
20:44For me, the real challenge of scuba diving begins before I'm even in the water, when
20:55I go to put on my wetsuit.
20:57It doesn't do any good to jump, does it?
20:58No.
20:58I mean, really.
20:59No.
21:01What's a good fit for a wetsuit?
21:03In a word, snug.
21:04Threaten a needle with a sausage.
21:06It'll keep you warm.
21:07You act like you need to warm up.
21:09I'm doing great.
21:10And as dry as possible.
21:11There's a weird patch of warm water here, Sean.
21:13I'm going to move over here.
21:15And if you do a few modifications.
21:17Where do I want the shark to bite me?
21:18Same question.
21:20You can save your life.
21:43Dawn breaks in the Apalachicola National Forest.
21:47Can you hear it?
21:49Of course you can.
21:51Dawn doesn't make any sound.
21:53Other noises are familiar, though.
21:55A cricket in the distance.
21:57A morning bird song.
21:59A mosquito vectoring in on my neck.
22:03And there, hearken, something new.
22:06The sound of grunting.
22:09Worm grunting.
22:11Yeah, it's true.
22:12Worm grunting in the Apalachicola National Forest.
22:14That's why I'm here.
22:14Getting closer.
22:28I think I found him.
22:43How's it going?
22:46Good.
22:47You Gary?
22:48All right.
22:48Mike.
22:49Nice to meet you, Mike.
22:50You too.
22:50Who's this?
22:51Audrey there.
22:52Hey, Audrey.
22:52Hey.
22:53How are you doing?
22:54Who's that over there?
22:55Snap down there in the bushes.
22:57Snap?
22:57Hey, Snap.
22:58Mike.
22:59All right.
23:01What are you doing, man?
23:03I'm getting worms up this morning.
23:05Really?
23:06This is the way we grunt these earthworms up.
23:08You start kind of about daylight, 7, 8, 9 o'clock.
23:13This is a piece of iron?
23:14Yes, sir.
23:14And that's a piece of wood?
23:15That's a piece of wood.
23:16All it's designed by the family.
23:21We did that like in the 70s.
23:24Hold on.
23:24You've hammered the wood into the ground, and then you drag the iron across the top,
23:28and it vibrates, makes a grunting sound.
23:31How long is the stake, actually?
23:33Probably about 2 foot, maybe 30 inches.
23:36Because I've noticed it's sunk a few inches since you started.
23:39And you notice the tone of change as it goes down.
23:42Yeah.
23:43And it gets higher.
23:44Right.
23:44We're getting worms because of what?
23:46Bait?
23:46Right.
23:47For panfish, bram, catfish, you know, warm-eye.
23:52We used to get these worms with an axe and a little star.
23:56He's a Mississippian diplocardia.
23:58He's a worm in his own.
24:01Mississippian diplocardia?
24:03Mm-hmm.
24:03And he's the only worm that I know that's attracted to this vibration that are surface.
24:09We're talking about just regular earthworms.
24:12Right.
24:12How far below the surface are the worms generally?
24:15Uh, probably a foot.
24:18And the vibration brings them to the top.
24:21Penetrates in the ground and causes them to surface.
24:23Show me one more time.
24:24If you don't mind, I'd love to give it a try afterwards.
24:26Mm-hmm.
24:29Mm-hmm.
24:31Mm-hmm.
24:32Mm-hmm.
24:33Mm-hmm.
24:34Mm-hmm.
24:35Mm-hmm.
24:36You can feel what it does to the ground.
24:38Mm-hmm.
24:39You're doing something to me, too.
24:40Yeah.
24:41No, it shakes the holes.
24:42Yeah.
24:43It shakes the whole ground.
24:44Mm-hmm.
24:45There you go.
24:49There you go.
24:49You know you're making a noise, right?
24:52I wouldn't doubt that a bit.
24:54At first, I thought it was just this, but I think you're actually grunting with the grunts.
24:57I do.
24:58A lot of people say I'm vocal with it, but...
25:00You're vocal.
25:01It's a habit.
25:03Did you know you were doing it?
25:04Mm-hmm.
25:04Sometimes I do.
25:05Sometimes I do.
25:06A lot of times I don't.
25:09Only when you mention I do.
25:11No, I'll make yourself grunt.
25:12I like it.
25:13I think I'm going to add that into my technique.
25:16All right, boss.
25:16So, uh...
25:17All right.
25:17So you just keep it on that slide angle, about 20 degrees.
25:20Mm-hmm.
25:21Mm-hmm.
25:22Mm-hmm.
25:22I mean, if you went this way, you could probably do it, but...
25:25It's like a reverse grunt.
25:27Right.
25:27We don't want them to back down.
25:29No, we don't want to send them back down to the center of the earth.
25:32The old reverse grunt.
25:38Go ahead.
25:38Put some meat on it.
25:40There you go.
25:43Feels dirty.
25:45It is.
25:46It's the morning after my Wednesday night Mexican meals, you know?
25:50Do you like the long, slow, mournful strokes, or do you prefer more urgent grunting?
25:58It all depends on how they're acting when they come to the surface.
26:01If they're wiggling good, you're doing the right thing.
26:03If they're sluggish and don't want to move, you just have to tighten them.
26:09Exactly.
26:11So my crew should be careful.
26:13There could be worms coming up underneath them right now.
26:14There could be.
26:15So you have to watch your step when you're walking around here.
26:17So we don't need to step on our worms.
26:19Yeah, you're stepping on profit.
26:21Like, Troy, there's one right in front of you right now.
26:23It just came up right out of the ground.
26:24Look at him.
26:25Mike's got him hunting the water.
26:27That's right.
26:28Here's another one.
26:29Look at that.
26:29They're coming up everywhere.
26:30I'm on fire.
26:31He's mad.
26:32I'm a worm grunt.
26:33Maniac.
26:34He's an amateur, and he's showing me up this morning.
26:40Now, let's tap it up.
26:43Pull it out of that ground.
26:44Lucky you know what that's going to do.
26:46Oh, yeah.
26:48With this sword, I free England.
26:52Oh, my God.
26:53So, you know, when we're done worm grunt, we can go ahead and kill us a vampire.
26:56Right.
26:57Coming up.
26:58How do you see that?
27:00I'll see it.
27:01I just don't know how he sees it.
27:02What you see is what you get.
27:04It's still tough to see.
27:04They're lying right here in the pine needles.
27:06And what you don't see is what you don't get.
27:08See the worm?
27:09I didn't see that worm at all.
27:10It's a brown worm lying at about 100,000 brown pine needles.
27:14Yeah, he's there.
27:21I've worn many hats in my job.
27:25And most of them serve a purpose.
27:27This camera's super convenient.
27:29The problem is when you pull this down, it's just as dark as night.
27:32Such as helping me see better.
27:33Thanks.
27:35Blind small.
27:35Keeping me warm.
27:37Yeah.
27:37I'm not sure it's my best look.
27:39My face is worth hundreds of dollars.
27:41And protecting the moneymaker.
27:43There you go, see?
27:46Shazam!
27:46Ow!
27:47Ow!
27:47It almost got crap, man!
27:49I just melt in my face, man!
27:51What the hell?
27:52I didn't even know the helmet.
27:56Well, I'm stepping about 10 yards ahead.
27:59Audrey, how you doing?
27:59You scooping them up?
28:00Uh-huh.
28:01I've got 160.
28:04Look at that.
28:05161.
28:05Come on over and snag it, Audrey.
28:10Great.
28:11Put the iron to it.
28:12You got it, son.
28:15Come on, worms.
28:17Oh, talk to them.
28:18That's the way it happens.
28:19Come on, worms.
28:19That's what makes them crawl.
28:21Looky here.
28:22That's what I'm talking about.
28:24Oh, yeah.
28:24There you go.
28:25See how active he is?
28:26He's liking what you're doing.
28:28Oh, look at him.
28:28He's dancing.
28:31Look at a little disco.
28:32Sounding good to you.
28:33Feeling good, sounding good.
28:35Worms are having a ball.
28:36Everybody's dancing.
28:38Where's old Snap?
28:40He's over there.
28:41Snap, go on over here and say hello.
28:43I'm going to meet the whole family while I'm doing this.
28:44Sounds great.
28:44He was raised in Aiswoods.
28:46Yeah?
28:47Yeah.
28:48Yep.
28:48Mike.
28:49Mike.
28:49How are you, Mike?
28:51Are you?
28:51So he's your boy?
28:52All right.
28:52Yeah, he's my youngest son.
28:53This is mine.
28:54This is the whole.
28:54So this is the whole operation?
28:56Uh-huh.
28:57Pretty much.
28:58This is the cream.
29:00For Gary, worm grunting started when he was six years old.
29:03Of course, back then, the worms were simply for personal use at the local fishing hole.
29:08He's pretty good at it.
29:09He's getting good.
29:10I'm good.
29:10Yeah, you think?
29:11I'm going to have to go get me a bucket.
29:13When Gary married Audrey back in 1970, they decided to make a business of worm grunting.
29:18As competition for those squirmy worms took off, so did the industry.
29:22From the late 70s to the 90s, there were hundreds of worm grunters.
29:26Today, there are only 10 to 15 of them left.
29:29And here I sit with three of the best.
29:32There are not a lot of things I like to get up at 5 a.m. in the morning for, but this is all right.
29:35Yeah, not bad.
29:37She's got me.
29:37I'm kind of wanting to wait.
29:40Whatever makes you happy, Gary.
29:44It does.
29:45Well, let's leave it at it, bro.
29:46That's what, eight cents each or something?
29:49Seven or eight cents.
29:50Seven or eight cents, yeah.
29:50Seven or eight cents?
29:51Look at all those pennies rolling around there.
29:54I keep this up.
29:55We'll have ourselves a roll of quarters.
29:56Right.
29:57There you go.
29:58Troy's got them just rolling out Monday night.
30:00Well, actually, the thing is, Gary, what I didn't tell you is they're crawling out of Troy.
30:04They are?
30:05Yeah.
30:08You know, somebody told me one time, this little part of the worm here, I'm trying to find him.
30:12A weird, ridgy little part where all his guts are.
30:15Is it a crown or?
30:15Well, I'll tell you.
30:17That's near the head.
30:17Yeah.
30:18No, I dated a girl a long time ago.
30:20She was a biologist type.
30:21Yeah.
30:22She said it was called a circumflare genoganglion.
30:24I guess.
30:26Whatever you say.
30:27We don't talk anymore.
30:30She moved on.
30:32Let's see what Snap's doing.
30:33I'll be curious to see how you're set up.
30:35Because that's where you were working before.
30:36See if I can pick out a lucky spot this morning.
30:39Kind of just clear a spot out there.
30:41Yeah.
30:42That's nice and new.
30:43That's what to do.
30:46Yeah.
30:47Look at that.
30:47You're doing the reverse.
30:48I was told the reverse grunt could have, you know, counterintuitive effects.
30:53You like that, don't you?
30:57You like that, Mr. Worm.
30:59Yes, you do.
31:00Here's your daddy.
31:02Oh, you like it.
31:03You know what you want.
31:05You fagging for him.
31:07Uh-oh.
31:09That'll send the worms back to China.
31:13What Snap's doing over there?
31:14Nice bass baritone thing going on.
31:16Bellowing for him.
31:17I'm just squealing like a whiny Alto.
31:20Should have brought a goose call with me.
31:23That's what I call my mournful grunt.
31:25Here you go.
31:26You fagging for the age.
31:29Oh, my.
31:31You fagged me to sleep.
31:34That's a lullaby, baby.
31:36Big one over here.
31:38What's that, Artie?
31:39We got a big one over here.
31:42We got these flowers out here we call worm flowers.
31:45That's a worm flower Snap?
31:46That's what we call it.
31:47That's what we call it, worm flower.
31:49Because normally when they're, um...
31:50It's an indicator plant that when we see it, we know that it's in a low area.
31:54We see the castings on the ground, preparations where they have been.
31:59If it rained really hard all at once, then they might come up and move up the hill, say, 10, 15 yards.
32:04Right.
32:05They fluctuate with the water.
32:06You'll see it like a lower dip right here where the water concentrates, and the worms like the composted ground.
32:12See the different colorations in them?
32:18Mm-hmm.
32:18This one here is fed on that matty ground.
32:21These are on this grass.
32:22This cut grass, we call it.
32:24See the difference in the color?
32:26These are what we call the whitebait.
32:28They're better for fishing, and they live longer than these, uh, darker worms.
32:33Probably got them all.
32:34You done got them?
32:35Yeah.
32:36Oh, boy.
32:36See them there?
32:37There's what you got up that time.
32:39How do you know when you're really killing it?
32:40I mean, when you're really, I mean, you're looking for a full pail, basically?
32:43Uh, when you're doing, doing it right, you'll get, uh, six, eight hundred.
32:48Six hundred and one?
32:49Oh, good grief.
32:50I'm honored.
32:50That's high cotton.
32:51And what do you sell them for?
32:53I would say six to seven centipedes.
32:55There's a common price, you know.
32:56Six to seven, not 67.
32:58If I got 67 centipedes, I'd do this two more days and retire.
33:03Right.
33:05But, but this is your main, this is your main source of living?
33:08Right.
33:08Is this your, you support your family?
33:10Family comes out?
33:11Do we know why it works?
33:13We have a biologist come out of Tennessee, and he was asking me, did I see any mole activity,
33:19tunneling and stuff like that, where I get these worms?
33:21Uh-huh.
33:21We, uh, decided it was a predator-prey-like thing.
33:25The worms hear the vibration.
33:26They think it's a giant mole.
33:28Right.
33:28They head to the surface.
33:29Right.
33:29And see, when he's crawling on the ground, he secretes that juice.
33:33See it on my hand?
33:34That's lubrication.
33:35That's what causes him to travel.
33:37But if the sun's out real bright, he won't move that far before he has to go back in the ground, because he had to dehydrate.
33:43They're still tough to see.
33:44They're lying right here in the pine, in the pine needles.
33:47Mm-mm-mm-mm-mm-mm-mm-mm.
33:52It's getting a little more pinkish.
33:56How do you see it?
33:57How do you see that?
33:58I've seen it.
33:59I know it.
34:00See these little ones here?
34:02If he does, I just don't know how he sees them.
34:06See these worms?
34:07Actually, no, I didn't see that worm.
34:09I didn't see that worm at all.
34:10I don't know how you see that worm.
34:11There's a brown worm lying in about 100,000 brown pine needles.
34:16Yeah.
34:16He's there.
34:17And he moves.
34:18And when he moves, I'll get him.
34:20I mean, you see how difficult this would be.
34:22You're looking for a brown worm, and that's what you're looking on.
34:25Brown worm-like things.
34:29Concentrate.
34:29I don't see him.
34:30You've got to see them.
34:31I don't see him.
34:32Look at your feet, man.
34:35Look to the right.
34:36There he is.
34:41There he is.
34:43I don't know how I could have missed him.
34:45All there, brown and identical to everything around him.
34:50See, there wasn't nothing to it, wasn't it?
34:51Well, you know, you don't know about the ones you don't get, right?
34:53That's right.
34:54Right.
34:54That's right.
34:55So as far as you know, you got them all.
34:56Oh, no.
34:57I don't ever think of that.
35:00You guys got worm eyes.
35:02Thanks.
35:03Thanks for that.
35:04Sure.
35:05I'd like to think so.
35:06Where, Audrey?
35:07You so...
35:07Right there where you're pouring.
35:09Your bucket was right over top of it.
35:12Yeah.
35:12I see him from here.
35:13Man, I'm about to step on one.
35:14There's nothing.
35:15Right here.
35:16Two or three right here, as a matter of fact.
35:18I believe I'm bad at this.
35:20You are.
35:22Coming up.
35:22I've come home with 90 cans, which is 45,000 worms.
35:26In one day.
35:26In one day.
35:27Get back.
35:27Seriously.
35:28How much money can you make in the worm business?
35:30Well, how many worms can you find?
35:32I mean, I hear people talk about living off the land all the time, but you're actually doing it.
35:35This is my life.
35:36Man, these worms is what causes us to tick.
35:45The Tyvek suit is sleek.
35:47Ready to go.
35:48You might have to put your arms out in front of you like Superman.
35:51Yes.
35:51What would Superman do if he were here?
35:53And sturdy in design.
35:54You've wrapped me in this piece of Kleenex, which I do appreciate.
35:59Uh-oh.
35:59It's made to keep bacteria and dirt out.
36:02All right, so we're all going to hit it.
36:04My crew, of course, is also dressed resplendently as giant sperm.
36:08And prepare you for the unexpected.
36:10Hey!
36:12Crap!
36:12We got some worms.
36:18We have what we need.
36:20So, with a couple pails of grunted worms, we headed back to Gary's place to do whatever non-grunting things you might do with grunted up worms.
36:29Oh, this will be the bait room, based on the sign.
36:33These worms are poured in this new dust.
36:35You say dust.
36:36You have sawdust.
36:37And it's a means of cleansing them, taking leaf and bark and smut, whatever's straw that's collected as we pick these worms up.
36:50This is the one we dumped out yesterday, and see how it cleanses all these castings and see how the worms are down below that.
37:00When Gary refers to castings, it's a fancy way of saying worm poop.
37:04So, just so I'm clear, the worms are in there, they're upside down.
37:08Right.
37:09They're pooping up in the air.
37:11Right.
37:11And that's why all the castings are on the top.
37:14Right.
37:14He'll be at the surface, just under the ground, just under the surface of the ground.
37:18Uh-huh.
37:19Now, when he goes to release these castings, he'll turn upside down, he'll get right at the top of the ground, and then when he drills down, eating, and he just, these castings, see?
37:29And poop.
37:30Just like that.
37:31Yeah.
37:31And that's how you, uh, you see the worm thing.
37:35So, so when worms do their business, I mean, they're not, I mean, they're not using any of the parts that we're familiar with.
37:43It's basically their, their whole body is an intestine, and they're just wringing themselves out.
37:48Yeah, I would, I would agree with that.
37:50You'll see this on top of the ground, in little piles.
37:53It'd be little bitty, round, uh, capsule-like things.
37:57It's their poo, or castings, that build the soil, which is why they're so good for gardens and plant life, and also why they're called earthworms.
38:07And then we'll take them over here and dump them out in this container.
38:13We're dumping this, we call this the counting table.
38:16This looks to me like the bottom of a, uh, shower stall.
38:19It is.
38:20We've, uh, we've, uh, had it for years and years, and it works great for what we do.
38:24And we'll take them, we'll dump these boogers out.
38:28You notice this dust now feels damp.
38:31All them, uh, secretions in these worms is absorbed in this dust.
38:36Sure.
38:36We're trying to keep that off of the worms.
38:38In the dust.
38:38To preserve them for a longer shelf life.
38:41See, we'll count them and put them in these cups to, uh, whatever the shop prefers.
38:47They might want 20, or they might want 25 in the cup.
38:50We'll count them out.
38:51How many do you want in here?
38:52Let's just put 20 for, uh, just to show.
38:56Three, five, six.
38:57Oh, you can't count out loud.
38:59That'll mess me up.
38:5920, and then we'll take some of the dust that's been in here, uh, overnight.
39:08It's cool in the air-conditioned room.
39:10You put the dust in him, leave him about an inch of airspace.
39:15Take your top, and you seal him up, and this is ready for the shop.
39:21How many worms do you catch a year?
39:24Usually, uh, we'll come home with, uh, three to five thousand.
39:27You're talking, what's, four thousand a day?
39:30Five thousand a day?
39:31Yeah, I'm busy.
39:33Now, if you're like me, you're probably wondering what four thousand worms and seven cents a piece will bring.
39:38The answer is $280 a day.
39:40However, Gary's business fluctuates as the sport of recreational fishing fluctuates.
39:47When it, when the gas gear got bad, it really put the hurt on us.
39:52Everything from fuel prices to weather to the economy affects the amount of fishing.
39:56And thus, the amount of Gary's worm grunting is affected as well.
40:01There's no use grunting what people won't buy.
40:04Is there a day you remember, just a day where it just, you just came home?
40:0790 cans.
40:0810,000?
40:09I've come home with 90 cans, which is 45,000 worms.
40:13In one day?
40:13One day.
40:14Get that, seriously.
40:1545,000 worms in one day.
40:18For those of you keeping track, that's $3,150 in one day.
40:24I mean, I hear people talking about living off the land all the time, but you're actually, you're actually doing it.
40:28This is my life.
40:30This is, me and these worms is what causes us to tick.
40:34You're the worm whisperer.
40:36Right.
40:37Basically.
40:38There's a huge amount of determination involved in it and the art of it.
40:44Well, I tell you, all things considered, I think in the future, I might try my hand at surgery next time.
40:51I think this is harder.
40:52Well, I'm sure them doctors do a lot of grunting also, but...
40:57Something to keep in mind.
41:00When you do that.
41:01Thank you, my friend.
41:04I'll leave you to it.
41:05Oh, Russ.
41:05I'm going to freshen up.
41:09Getting ideas for dirty jobs is something that's very important to this program.
41:13And we'll do virtually anything to sear into your retina an image of the urgency that we live with each and every day.
41:23It's important that you go to discovery.com forward slash dirty jobs to suggest a new dirty adventure.
41:29Otherwise, we won't be able to stay employed.
41:34Dave has laid himself out here prostrate, you know, making the ultimate sacrifice.
41:41Discovery.com forward slash dirty jobs.
41:44It's a heck of a lot easier than having your nipples waxed.
41:47Right?
41:49Susan, is this a dirty job?
41:50Yes.
41:51Dave, is this a dirty job?
41:52Yeah.
41:53Discovery.com forward slash dirty jobs.
41:56We're absolutely clear on this, right?
41:58Yeah.
42:00Now, see, a lot of shows, Bruce, right now, you'd look at them and you'd think they weren't doing anything.
42:04Uh-huh.
42:04But see, these guys, they're still shooting.
42:05What we do is we shoot nothing.
42:07Uh-huh.
42:07And as nothing happens, we'll put it on on the air.
42:10It's confusing when you're in the midst of the nothing while it's happening.
42:13But when you're home watching nothing, what you'll do sometimes is you'll call people in to say,
42:17get in here.
42:18Can you believe there's nothing going on?
42:20Like right now, we're still shooting.
42:21Nothing is happening.
42:22And yet, we're actually making money.
42:25We're making money doing nothing.
42:26That's right.
42:27I like that concept.
42:28How do you get into that?
42:30How do you get into that?
42:30How do you get into that?
42:30How do you get into that?
42:31How do you get into that?
42:31How do you get into that?
42:32How do you get into that?
42:32How do you get into that?
42:32How do you get into that?
42:33How do you get into that?
42:34How do you get into that?
42:34How do you get into that?
42:35How do you get into that?
42:36How do you get into that?
42:36How do you get into that?
42:37How do you get into that?
42:38How do you get into that?
42:39How do you get into that?
42:40How do you get into that?
42:41How do you get into that?
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