Dr. Evil's Face Your Fears - Scoleciphobia Traditional Cache

Dr. Evil's Face Your Fears series of caches will highlight common phobias (fears) that many people have towards common everyday things or objects.  Some phobias are steeped in years of conditioning and survival instinct.  Some fears come from childhood experiences.  Some fears are just irrational but cause anxiety and reaction nonetheless.  Dr. Evil thought it would be interesting to create some caches just to see how cachers react to certain phobias.  Each of the caches are designed to exploit, expose, and trigger a phobia response (assuming the cacher has that phobia).  Many cachers will have no issues with these caches and some may decide to just DNF and walk away.  Dr. Evil may add to the series from time to time as he gets a notion to.  Good luck facing your fears!

This cache is Scoleciphobia, or the fear of worms.  This fear can also be known as Vermiphobia or Helminthophobia.  There are thousands of people around the globe that suffer from this fear.  Individuals with this fear will often trigger a reaction by the mere sight or thought of worms, especially the thought of worms wiggling around on their skin.  People with fear of diseases often possess this fear as well.  It is thought that this fear is of an evolutionary nature as humans in the past have associated worms with unhealthy conditions.  Anyone that has seen a worm wriggling around in their feces will also likely have this phobia which would make it a learned behavior.  Many high school biology classes will use the earthworm as the subject of dissection thus creating an unpleasant memory associated with worms.

Symptoms of Scoleciphobia may include a rapid heart rate, dizziness, hot or cold flashes, chest pain or tightening of the chest, a feeling of choking, trembling, sweating, nausea, or inability to think or act rationally.  For individuals with an extreme case even just talking or thinking about worms can trigger a response.

For this cache you will have to Face Your Fear.  Cache is a large wooden box with a smaller container inside.  To retrieve the log you will have to surrender your hand into the container that has several dozen worms in it.  Be gentle; they don't bite, but they do like a good wiggle.  Fair warning, this cache may cause your hand to become slimy, sticky, or smell unpleasant.  Gloves will not be provided.  Good luck.  DNF's welcomed (insert Dr. Evil laugh)!

Congrats to PaulGracie on the first to find!!