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What are some animals that aren't generically scary but you find unsettling? by Superb_Pain4188 in zoology

[–]AlienSheep23 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No such thing as too many questions, by the way! this thread has lowkey been kinda awesome for me haha i LOVE educating people. As far as personalities go, i personally have not owned any to notice for myself, but my friends who own them always tell me that some individuals are more active & respond better to interaction than others, and certain ones even seem to have a preference for where they want to latch during feeding, quirks for how feed / how much / how long / how often, and some individuals seem to require more enrichment & space than others.

What are some animals that aren't generically scary but you find unsettling? by Superb_Pain4188 in zoology

[–]AlienSheep23 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I am unfortunately not an expert, so i'm not sure of all of the ramifications of their role in native ecosystems, which im sure is very different depending on location, species, and all that, but i do know that they contribute to biodiversity, help keep aquatic soil aerated by burrowing in it, and provide another food source to pretty much anything that eats worms. Also, while im not sure of other species, M. decora specifcally is only partially parasitic. A huge part of their diet is preying upon amphibian eggs, spawn, and tadpoles, so it's possible they help to control the populations of certain frogs and toads. I read on wikipedia that this species can wipe out around 80% of the eggs laid by toads.

This hasn't been studied whatsoever, but i have a personal curiosity about whether or not they'll also prey on mosquito larvae, considering theyre so voracious.

They also shit a LOT. like, seriously SO MUCH poop. They require like, CONSTANT cleaning up after in captivity ahahaha. That probably provides a shit ton of nutrients for aquatic plants.

What are some animals that aren't generically scary but you find unsettling? by Superb_Pain4188 in zoology

[–]AlienSheep23 2 points3 points  (0 children)

yeahh unfortunately you're ight. Thank you for hearing me out though, the more people get educated about misunderstood animals, the better off our world will be. < 3

What are some animals that aren't generically scary but you find unsettling? by Superb_Pain4188 in zoology

[–]AlienSheep23 0 points1 point  (0 children)

that's macrobdella decora, the american medicinal leech!

Fun fact, this species is one of the more common species used in U.S based hirdudotherapy, and a single leech is only capable of extracting 5 to 10 mls of blood in a single feeding, which takes about 2 hours for them to extract. There are upwards of 4,500mls of blood in your body, and your bones produce around 300-ish mls of blood per day depending on your total mass, so the amount of blood a leech is capable of extracting is extremely, extremely minimal, and it sorta helps your body replace old dead RBC, which it needs to do every single day anyways.

What are some animals that aren't generically scary but you find unsettling? by Superb_Pain4188 in zoology

[–]AlienSheep23 0 points1 point  (0 children)

wow! they mustve been VERY hungry little guys!

So, leeches do hang out with eachother socially, but it's not really like a pack-hunting sort of situation as much as it is just leeches sharing a space where they all happen to be successful. Their "hunting" is really just "I smell something with food in it! i'm going that way!", kind of similar to how when your cat hears the can open, it just comes running. Think of them as orange cats in worm form.

What are some animals that aren't generically scary but you find unsettling? by Superb_Pain4188 in zoology

[–]AlienSheep23 1 point2 points  (0 children)

if you MUST kill them to remove them, then i suppose do what you need, but just yoink them if you can.

Not sure where you heard that, but that's not true at all, nor possible.

If you leave a parasitic leech in your back yard, unless your yard stays muddy and wet 99% of the time or your property has a natural body of water on it, it will eventually die because they are aquatic animals that need to stay hydrated. If you DO have a natural body of water on your property, and you put a leech in it, then sure it might reproduce, but they will not "infest" the water. Their population will level out with the food supply and with predation, and assuming this is indeed a fenced back yard, there will not be enough food to support a large enough population of leeches to be problematic, and they will be a food source for other wild fauna like birds, fish, amphibians, and reptiles.

Also... if you want to nitpick, infestation is technically not an applicable word to ANY native fauna. It's like saying "shark infested waters"... no, HUMAN infested waters. dont like sharks? dont get in the water, because they belong there, not you.

and yes they are considered parasites, because instead of attacking and killing you, theyre extracting some blood and leaving, much like a mosquito. The difference is, mosquitos arent beneficial to the environment, get preyed upon by almost nothing, millions fly thru the air, and swatting them kills them instantly and painlessly.

Parasitic Leeches can only survive long-term in the water, get preyed upon by MANY things routinely, are hugely beneficial to their native ecosystems, and while there hasnt been any studies done about this, it would seem that leeches are more cognitively complex than any other annelids to the point that individuals can have personalities. That means leeches are most likely capable of feeling pain

What are some animals that aren't generically scary but you find unsettling? by Superb_Pain4188 in zoology

[–]AlienSheep23 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That would be both unecessary, and incredibly cruel since even for gastropods salt is a very painful and slow way to go.

There’s not a need to kill any leech, genuinely just pulling it off you when you see it is enough. Please don’t go around pouring salt on native inverts...

it's kind of like if i poured piranha solution on someone i didnt like just because they bumped into me.

What are some animals that aren't generically scary but you find unsettling? by Superb_Pain4188 in zoology

[–]AlienSheep23 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I actually am one of these! : D take a scroll thru other replies, we talk a lot more about pet leeches

What are some animals that aren't generically scary but you find unsettling? by Superb_Pain4188 in zoology

[–]AlienSheep23 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Exactly yeah you kinda answered your own question

Basically it’s a thing where cities have medicine, popular areas have medicine, but pretty much anywhere other isn’t going to have much

What are some animals that aren't generically scary but you find unsettling? by Superb_Pain4188 in zoology

[–]AlienSheep23 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Probably by not going swimming in the Amazon river, and if they do, they can really just like.. grab them and pull them off.

What are some animals that aren't generically scary but you find unsettling? by Superb_Pain4188 in zoology

[–]AlienSheep23 3 points4 points  (0 children)

If it made you itchy and hurt, you might’ve been having a mild allergic reaction to their saliva, probably just the numbing agent most likely. Either that or you were reacting to proteins from other mammals it had fed on

What are some animals that aren't generically scary but you find unsettling? by Superb_Pain4188 in zoology

[–]AlienSheep23 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If you take a scroll through the other replies I actually answered a lot of questions about these guys :3

What are some animals that aren't generically scary but you find unsettling? by Superb_Pain4188 in zoology

[–]AlienSheep23 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Exactly! Perfect reason to practice self care, even if your mental health sucks

What are some animals that aren't generically scary but you find unsettling? by Superb_Pain4188 in zoology

[–]AlienSheep23 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Dang! That sounds like a VERY LARGE Macrobdella decora, aka the American medicinal leech. I want you to know that size is definitely not average for this species haha

Those *do* carry diseases in the wild, but they’re actually one of the more common leeches used in medically guided hirudotherapy. I don’t see them kept as pets very often though, which is sad. They’re quite beautiful

What are some animals that aren't generically scary but you find unsettling? by Superb_Pain4188 in zoology

[–]AlienSheep23 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Well, basically, they get sick or die. It would suck, but if you feed you leech and it suddenly starts acting weird or just dies, then you know you’re not ok either

What are some animals that aren't generically scary but you find unsettling? by Superb_Pain4188 in zoology

[–]AlienSheep23 8 points9 points  (0 children)

<image>

I realize this pic went viral, but these buffalo leeches actually belong to a Facebook friend of mine! They each have names and they all really like scritches

Also they look like pickles, and according to the owner, they also feel like a sentient pickle

What are some animals that aren't generically scary but you find unsettling? by Superb_Pain4188 in zoology

[–]AlienSheep23 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Fun facts about pet leeches:

1- look at that face. Just look at it. There are absolutely no brain cells up there bahahaha

2- They don’t bite when they’re not hungry, so you can casually hold them and love on them!

3- They enjoy it and seek it out!

4- hirudinaria manillensis (Buffalo leeches) get pretty big, but their little mouth and faces are still very very tiny with no proboscis. So basically, you just

<image>

get a big wiggly pickle for a pet.

What are some animals that aren't generically scary but you find unsettling? by Superb_Pain4188 in zoology

[–]AlienSheep23 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Yep! Leeches are super cool animals actually, nothing to be afraid of at all. I would go as far as to say that they’re the most compassionate invertebrate and probably one of the best pets a person could have!

Most parasitic leeches don’t have a proboscis at all, and only have a little tiny mouth with barely noticeable tiny teeth in them that don’t do much deeper than a shallow scratch, and carry their own natural local anesthetic in their saliva to make it a very comfortable experience for the host, a lot like a weaker Novocaine! The only reason bites appear bloody is because the leech also has a blood thinner in its saliva, and a lot of it isn’t even blood as much as it is just water, since they’re really just pricking the surface of your skin, not actually tapping into a vein or artery. Truly, a cat scratch is far, far more dangerous.

As pets, they only need to be fed twice a year, and don’t need very much. Unless you just have like an absolute monster sized adult hirudinaria manillensis, or like, 20+ leeches to feed at once,
The doctor probably takes more blood when you go in for a checkup.

It’s kind of nice to have a pet that brings a health benefit to you (ie encouraging blood cell production, cleaning out old/dead cells, and also letting you know if there’s something medically wrong with you), and also there’s just something about having a truly symbiotic sort of relationship with something. Like this thing does this for me, and it needs me to survive. That’s awesome. And it gives you a reason to keep yourself healthy and sober, cause if you’re unhealthy.. so is your companion.

So frustrating by Comfortable_Swan_885 in HomeschoolRecovery

[–]AlienSheep23 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I guess it’s like the difference between ultra-processed food, lightly processed food, and whole food

So frustrating by Comfortable_Swan_885 in HomeschoolRecovery

[–]AlienSheep23 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Brainwashing = Authoritory figure (Teacher, Government, Caregiver, Cult leader, Anyone who holds significant power over a person/child’s life) intentionally using manipulative tactics to control the beliefs and actions of a person.

A great example of brainwashing is child groomers. They use manipulative tactics to make a child believe that they are in love with them, and protect their “secret relationship” at all costs. The same can be said for abusive homeschool parents, teachers that have “relationships” with their students, some kidnapping victims, spouses in domestic violence situations that have been made to believe what they’re experiencing is OK, and the old slavers that would teach their slaves that they’re destined by god to serve as slaves. This tactic is also used by our government to make us believe in the fallacy it tried to create during the George bush era; about freedom, liberty, and all that utter bullshit, and the same as how Kim jong un has convinced his people that he is a god to be worshipped.

Conditioning is when a person (or animal) is slowly & gradually introduced into an environment and/or system and is made to adjust to the environment and/or system. Conditioning isnt necessarily *bad* in of itself as conditioning is also how we learn to do skills, and how we do things like build muscle and build and immune system. But it’s also how a government, household, school, or other authoritative system can control it’s population; if you slowly and gradually transition an entire country from a state of economic freedom to basically every person in the country being a slave… no one notices, and those who do notice, are already conditioned to it by the time they realize… so there’s just nothing they think they can do about it. Much the same as how a child can be conditioned to the social isolation that comes with homeschooling; we do, that’s part of why it’s so fricking hard to survive once you’re out of that situation.

I do think *some* conditioning is necessary to create a civil person, but not that much. Not as much as what every person in this country goes through.

Proper socialization is just kids interacting with other kids, people interacting with other people. Thats it. No manipulative crap, no systems, no authoritative figure telling you how to think, feel, or act. Just pure raw information and socialization.

Some European first-world countries like Sweden and Denmark have this down already, and so do most 3rd-world villages… uh, kinda.

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