130th. st.
Did you know that ants have a religion?
It's caused by slimeballs. Dicrocoelium Dendriticum, but even the big parasite geeks like me don't say that out loud (though I have got it memorized) we just say 'Lancet Flukes'. 'Flukes' for short.
These flukes start out in the stomach, the stomach of a cow, to be exact. Not really surprising, most parasites have a kink for stomachs (free food!) and cows are ruminants, so they've got four of 'em. Now, If a cow with lancet flukes takes a dump, some lancet flukes do what they things in the stomach are prone to, they go with the food. And then, shit, they're out of where they wanted to be the most, in the cow's stomach. (free food, remember?)
Now, a snail comes along and eats the cow pie, 'cause that's what snails do. To them, it's like a delicacy, don't judge. And now the snail is infected, and the parasite's gotta get outta there and back to the cow. So it does. It drills through the snail's skin after the lancet fluke eggs have hatched in the snail's belly. Ew is right. But! The snail's got one way to protect itself! You guessed it, slime! The slime lubricates the lancet fluke's egress and so the snail survives the holes drilled, and it effectively becomes a slimeball. But the lancet flukes still aren't back home in a cow's belly.
Lucky for them, ants? They love slimeballs. It's a delicacy to them; don't judge. The ants eat the flukes, and the flukes get ready for mind control. You can argue if ants really have minds or not all you want, but end result is, ants get religion. The flukes control the ant's nerves and switch their behavior, and, every night, the ants do something pretty flukey ...Ants are pretty social, if you didn't know, but their new lancet fluke religion makes the infected ant wander off all by its lonesome and stand on the top of tall blades of grass and just stares at the sky, all night, alone, for no apparent reason.
I always think to myself, what does it think it's doing? Ants may not think. Not anything. Not ever. But if they do? Maybe they think magical creatures are coming down and talking to them, or maybe aliens are coming to take them away, or maybe Dicrocoelium Dendriticum really is a religion, and the ants think God will talk to them if they just sit on that blade of grass long enough.
I like to think the ant is happy, or centered or something, when the cow's mouth comes down for a snack and takes a bite out of that ant's little blade of grass.
I know the flukes are happy. They're back in the cow's stomach. Home sweet home.
But... you know. I wonder sometimes, especially here, if we're the ants.
It's caused by slimeballs. Dicrocoelium Dendriticum, but even the big parasite geeks like me don't say that out loud (though I have got it memorized) we just say 'Lancet Flukes'. 'Flukes' for short.
These flukes start out in the stomach, the stomach of a cow, to be exact. Not really surprising, most parasites have a kink for stomachs (free food!) and cows are ruminants, so they've got four of 'em. Now, If a cow with lancet flukes takes a dump, some lancet flukes do what they things in the stomach are prone to, they go with the food. And then, shit, they're out of where they wanted to be the most, in the cow's stomach. (free food, remember?)
Now, a snail comes along and eats the cow pie, 'cause that's what snails do. To them, it's like a delicacy, don't judge. And now the snail is infected, and the parasite's gotta get outta there and back to the cow. So it does. It drills through the snail's skin after the lancet fluke eggs have hatched in the snail's belly. Ew is right. But! The snail's got one way to protect itself! You guessed it, slime! The slime lubricates the lancet fluke's egress and so the snail survives the holes drilled, and it effectively becomes a slimeball. But the lancet flukes still aren't back home in a cow's belly.
Lucky for them, ants? They love slimeballs. It's a delicacy to them; don't judge. The ants eat the flukes, and the flukes get ready for mind control. You can argue if ants really have minds or not all you want, but end result is, ants get religion. The flukes control the ant's nerves and switch their behavior, and, every night, the ants do something pretty flukey ...Ants are pretty social, if you didn't know, but their new lancet fluke religion makes the infected ant wander off all by its lonesome and stand on the top of tall blades of grass and just stares at the sky, all night, alone, for no apparent reason.
I always think to myself, what does it think it's doing? Ants may not think. Not anything. Not ever. But if they do? Maybe they think magical creatures are coming down and talking to them, or maybe aliens are coming to take them away, or maybe Dicrocoelium Dendriticum really is a religion, and the ants think God will talk to them if they just sit on that blade of grass long enough.
I like to think the ant is happy, or centered or something, when the cow's mouth comes down for a snack and takes a bite out of that ant's little blade of grass.
I know the flukes are happy. They're back in the cow's stomach. Home sweet home.
But... you know. I wonder sometimes, especially here, if we're the ants.