The Playground Tragedies

 3rdLanders screamed to me at recess to come over to see something weird.  I was blown away by this writhing black string thing dancing atop a dead katydid. We did some research on my phone.  Come to find out, this is a horsehair worm. Harmless to people, deadly to bugs.  They have been known to appear after rainy days.  Sometimes people find them in their toilets.  

Tragic fact: Horsehair worms can place their larva inside a cricket or katydid.  When the larva grows up, it INFLUENCES its host, causing said host to jump into water and drown. 

 Note that this influence doesn't occur unless the host is already near water.  It will not travel long distances to drown itself.  

No one knows how this happens, but if you're a katydid next to some water, and a horsehair worm emerges from your body, my feeling is you would most likely jump in disgust and horror, inadvertently landing in nearby water, unhappily dying as you watch your horsehair worm cheerfully swimming away. 

Last month the 3rdLanders found a swarm of flies partying about a smelly deer leg, easily identified by a hoof at one end.  We had some disagreement about the deer's age. 3rdLanders believed the leg belonged to a baby deer (fawn).  I surmised that an adult deer lost this leg.  We wondered together about who dismembered the deer.  Fox or wild dog were 2 possibilities.  A few optimists asserted that, whatever its age, that deer could adapt to living with 3 legs and could have a long happy life.  

I didn't dash their dreams, but come on people.  Think it through. 

If you're ever on our school playground, keep your eyes peeled.  There's a lot going on out there.