Procrastination takes many forms. With me, it takes the form of a dive into the information vortex.
Specifically, a vortex swirling with images of bed bug-infested mattresses, STD outbreaks, Meth Mouth and bad plastic surgery.
This week’s topic is (drumroll, please) Awful Parasites. (Yes, I do love the show “Monsters Inside Me.”) Here are my favorite horrible kinds:
- Human Bot Fly, native to South America and parts of North America
- The Filarial Worm, which completes its entire lifecycle inside its human host
- Candiru, the “toothpick fish” attracted to urea. Guess where you find urea? Bad news for the fellas. The following image shows one just removed from a poor guy’s (ahem) parts.
- The Guinea Worm, contracted by drinking contaminated water in South Asia and Africa
- Cymothoa exigua, or the tongue-eating louse, which, unlike the above, is not a human parasite. This creature attacks fish by going in through the gills, attaching to the tongue, and extracting the blood so that the tongue atrophies. Then the parasite acts as the fish’s tongue. Shudder.
Now I feel all gross and itchy, but I’ve succeeded in wasting plenty of time. Enjoy!
