Parasites! All Natural and All Dressed.
Two thrilling reads for any budding parasitologist or the not-so-squeamish:
Mother Nature is Trying to Kill You is about just that and in Parasite by Mira Grant, a corporation's genetically modified tapeworm is trying to save you … Just a warning, both reads get gory.
Here's a little snippet from Dan Riskin's rollercoaster ride book – Mother Nature is Trying to Kill You on his epic moment of tracking vampire bats in Costa Rica:
"Hiking toward a cave in Costa Rica that I knew might have vampire bats in it made me feel like a twelve-year-old going back-stage at a Justin Bieber concert…I walked to the cave as silently as I could, found the bats, and took some photos. Then I crouched to look in the cave. There was movement, but I was still too tall to really see what was going on, so I took off my backpack, turned around, and then lay down on my back and slid into the cave. The cave floor was wet and smelled terrible. As I slid through the bat droppings, I felt the sludge slide through my hair, down my neck, and into my shirt." (p75, 76)
EWW! And that's not even gross compared to other parts in the book. I loved this book!
Want a read-a-like? Check out Richard Dawkins' The Selfish Gene. Cited in MNWTKY, it is a must-read on Darwinism.
While parasites are frequently something to be rid of, many now have medical use. Leeches have been used recently to drain excess blood from skin transplants, they help the new skin graft onto the old. Ringworm has also been used to treat severe allergies. Check out this wild case of ringworm therapy.
I'll never forget the time I got giardia – a microparasite that makes its home in the small intestine.
It was a summer evening, I'd been swimming in lake water that had muskrat and/or beaver lodges on it. I'd basically touched tons of micro-orgranisms and had no idea. As the afternoon wore on, I got hungry and reached for some snacks – saltine crackers AKA finger foods. That's what did me and my gut in. A few days later I started having terrible shredding pains in my guts after eating. Each time I ate, pain swelled and waned for the duration of digestion: an entire 2.5 hours. After lots of trips to the hospital, including an ultrasound, it was concluded that I had friendly giardia in my gut. Since they're microscopic, there was disappointingly, no disgusting worm to show for it. Nothing that I could put in a formeldahyde-filled jar and proudly display on a bookcase. But now I do appreciate hand sanitizer!
And just a reminder, parasites are everywhere. There are lots of common parasites even in Ontario, such as leeches, ticks, lice, bed bugs…some are worse than others.
Have you ever had a parasite?
Or an encounter with nature that reminded you of the circle of life?
*Submit your short anecdote and enter to win a hardcover copy of Mother Nature is Trying to Kill You.*
Some rules to keep in mind:
1) Your story needs to be true, feel free to elaborate on gross details.
2) You have to be a resident of the city of Toronto to win a prize.
3) Your answer has to be submitted by Wednesday, July 16th at 11:59 PM if you want to win.
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10 thoughts on “Parasites! All Natural and All Dressed.”
Well yes I have. In grade 8, during science we had to collect rain water for looking at under the the miscroscope, we saw many of em, and it was so gross to know that those things are falling on you evryday, that you are swimming in them, or even drinking them. EWWWWWWWWWW… I also remember learning about symbosis in science,, and I realize that its just how their nature is, the way they survive is living on other creatures, or in them like ticks, or leeches and stuff. I think the group of 7 in the 1920s really show that nature is not always pretty, and is dangerous.
I remember that assignment! I think my class collected water samples from a nearby pond to study. It was quite disturbing to see so many parasites twitching under the microscope.
To elaborate on my pond bugs experience: It was back in eighth grade near the end of the year. My class was being rowdy as usual so my science teacher took us on a hike to observe nature. We went to a nearby pond and collected murky brown water samples. All we saw with the naked eye was floating dirt clumps. However, when I looked under the microscope, I saw many long, translucent parasites that made my gut suck in with disgust. Why do they twitch like that?! SO disturbing… But I couldn’t look away, it was so cool to see the unseen. I also recall that one of my classmates shouted that they found a huge green one so naturally, everyone gathered around taking turns peeking at the parasite an gagging afterward. When I finally mustered the guts to look,I saw what looked like a green worm. I’m not sure if it had legs, but I could focus on is how it moved like it had a seizure… Just grosssss. So much for lunch that day. Thanks a lot parasites…GROSS.
In the summer of 2011, the nice weather I have been waiting for was finally here after a torturous school year. Outdoor activities of all sorts are well underway. Along with these activities, of course, come the possibilities of accidents and other incidents. Here is my story:
My dad thought that that summer would be an excellent time to visit Algonquin Provincial Park for our yearly family camping trip. The rugged beauty, towering rock cliffs, picturesque rivers and lakes I saw on the computer were enough for me to be fall in love with the park before I even went. I especially looked forward to the swimming. However, my dream of relaxing in the lake and exploring the heart of the park also turned out to me my worst nightmare because of my encounter nature’s ancient bloodsuckers.
Early in the afternoon, I took a swim on the other side of the lake with my sister across from the camp area. When we returned, I quickly dried off, got dressed, and started to help get dinner ready with my paren’ts. When it was finally bedtime, I took off my mud-caked boots to find one sock is soaked in blood. Hmm… I don’t feel any pain? Well… let’s take a look. It turns out that a leech – who has been feasting on me for the past 6 hours – is gorged with blood and is now stuck between my toes and unable to escape. Once I part my toes, he falls off and squirms on the dirt. I felt disgusted and wanted to throw up. But I guess both a spineless worm and myself had one thing in common. We both would not want to be suffocated by a sock, crammed into a boot, and tramped on for 6 hours!
Every in middle school I would eat breakfast in the morning which included an apple, cereal and milk. Pretty healthy right?! OR THAT’S WHAT I THOUGHT!!!! I took a two bites out of my red delicious juicy apple. Until, a wiggly worm was sticking out of the apple. It was sheer horror to see that happening before my eyes. Was I imagining this?! No, it it was moving, it was ALIVE! I was baffled by this. How in the world does a breakfast program apple have a worm crawling inside of it? I chucked away the apple away along with the worm. This made me very suspicious of the Breakfast Program apples, since then I have only eaten cereal and milk but that alone does not make me very full. My stomach growls everyday for apples but Alas! I shall not risk myself eating a worm.
Microscopes totally transform the ordinary into something GROSS! Thanks for the story!
What you said about symbiosis is true – and good to remember – surviving is what all creatures and plants are programmed to do. How they do it can benefit and/or harm others. p.s. The group of seven is incredible!
That’s really a good gross story. It reminds me of a bot fly. YUCK.
Wow, that is truly a terrible breakfast surprise. Sounds like the worm got its breakfast that day! Yeesh! Also a great example of how nature is at work everywhere – including the cafeteria.
Congrats to Kaj for the gross parasite story! You’ve won a copy of the book, Mother Nature is Trying to Kill You. Thanks to everyone for sharing their stories!