#1 As If Ants Weren’t Robotic Enough
We have been taught since childhood that ants are some of the best team workers in the animal kingdom, sacrificing individuality for work ethic and rules-following. To know that there are actual zombie ants is terrifying. A fungus that infects the brains of carpenter ants acts like a hypnotist, compelling them to feed from the part of the leaf that best suits the fungus. Eventually, the fungus which has taken over the ant’s brain it can shoot out spores to infect other ants. Sound like every zombie movie you’ve ever seen? We know.
#2 Fish Can Become Tongueless Slaves
Fish might have the worst fate out of all the members of this list, because their zombie-like parasite does not control their whole existence, it just lives with the fish brutally while they live out the rest of their miserable life. The crustacean known as Cymothoa attaches itself to the tongue of the spotted red snapper, sucking the blood from the tongue until it is eventually gone. If that wasn’t painful enough, the parasite then reattaches to the stub left from the tongue and begins feeding off the fish’s mucous to survive, a despicable way to spend a life if you ask us.
#3 Rats are Becoming Zombies and It’s Not from Lab Testing
Dog people rejoice, you have another small victory in your war against the cat people of the world. Turns out cat intestines are the only breeding place for a certain type of parasite called Toxoplasma. When they poop this out and rats inevitably play in the fecal matter the rats’ brains are infected with the Toxo. This causes the rats to let their guard down against their sworn enemy, the cat, and some scientists even believe the smell of cat urine becomes a sort of attractive aphrodisiac for the rats, obviously leading them to their own death.
#4 A Bee that Is Not Interested in Honey is a Zombie
There is a fly that has the ability to inject its fly eggs into the abdomen of a bee, causing it to act as a surrogate mother of sorts. This bee is overcome by the new offspring inside of itself, though, and instead of doing bee things like searching for honey and building hives, it simply walks in circles until it eventually tips over. These larvae mature and burst from the bee after about seven days, off to perpetuate the vicious cycle of infection.
#5 We Are Safe, For Now
Even with all of these examples from the animal world of parasites turning living beings into slaves without personal will, we are not concerned about an impending World War Z. Animals are animals for a reason, and they do not have the resources to fight disease and infection like humans do, it’s what makes us unique. It is not fair to compare human and animal anatomy or physiology, which is why lab testing on rodents is never 100% certain. Is this stuff scary? You bet it is. Do we think cases of the zombie flu are going to arise in humans any time soon? We cannot be certain, but the answer is No.
Real-Life Zombies in the Animal Kingdom....And We May Be Next!
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