Nathan, maybe you should rename yourself doubting thomas
. Yes, that is what some of the bristle worms I have grabbed looked like. I can recall one that when I last moved my tank was about 2 feet long. I didn't feel like taking the bad boy with me to my new home so I picked him up and smooshed him down the sink drain. I have also had the bright red bristle worms, and other colors as well. Never had an ill affect from them. I do like the fiberglass analogy from Matt, although fiberglass kills me.
As far as not thinking skin is thick enough, I played hockey and rowed for a number of years, and up until recently (you need softer hands to play with babies!) my hands looked like a large callouses. My hockey gloves probably made me immune to anything and everything! If you've ever known a hockey player or played yourself, you'll know that there is nothing smellier and grosser than a hockey glove, and that most gloves lose their palms so it's like bare handed hockey that leaves your hands smelling bad for days at a time.
As far as catching the bristle worms, Angela, the nylon thing would probably work, although you might want to try fishnet instead of normal. Whenever I replace my carbon and phosphate remover, I always find bristle worms that are in the bags, and some that are stuck half in and half out. I usually pluck the side that's out of the bag out and toss it in my tank, and whatever is stuck in the mesh of the bag, I squish out with my fingers, cleaning the bag for reuse. By the way, Angela, another good way to locate large bristle worms is to look under your tank with a flashlight. You can follow the trail of the bristle worm and often see the worm itself, and save yourself the hassle of constantly messing with your substrate. Also, IMO, the larger ones will be in the substrate, as holes in rock are usually not big enough for a big bristle worm to fit in.
