Page 6 (1/2)

Chapter 6

SLIMEBALLS

Ants have this religion, and it&039;s caused by slimeballs

It all starts with a tiny creature called Dicrocoeliueeks don&039;t bother saying that out loud We just call them "lancet flukes"

Like a lot of parasites, these flukes start out in a stoans of final hosts, you may have noticed Well, duh - there&039;s food in the about the stomach of a cow

When the infected cow makes a cow pie, as we say in Texas, a passel of lancet fluke eggs winds up in the pasture A snail co and eats some of the cow pie, because that&039;s what snails do Now the snail is infected The fluke eggs hatch inside the unlucky snail&039;s belly and then start to drill their way out through its skin

Fortunately for the snail, it has a way to protect itself: slime

The sliminess of the snail&039;s skin lubricates the flukes as they drill their way out, and the snail survives their exit By the time the flukes escape, they&039;re entirely encased in a slimeball, unable to ain, that&039;s for sure

But the flukes don&039;t mind this turn of events It turns out they wanted to be covered in slih the snail was just evolution&039;s way of getting the flukes all slimy Because they&039;re headed to their next host: an ant

Here&039;s so you didn&039;t want to know: Ants love slimeballs

Slimeballs make a delicious meal, even when they have a few hundred flukes inside So sooner or later, so, eats the slimeball, and winds up with a bellyful of parasites