Picture is unrelated

Here's a large owl pellet I found in Franklin Park earlier this week. The size of the rodent jawbone and section of cranium are large enough that this was probably a young squirrel. Could have been a flying squirrel, I guess.


On my way to work yesterday my usual view of the ass end of school buses was prettied-up with this glowing sunrise.

Toxo-hodgmania

A number of people have posted a link to this article about a scientist who has shown that the parasitic protist Toxoplasma causes human behavior to change. Men become introverted, while infected women tend to be more outgoing. (He goes as far as to say that the parasite is responsible for thousands of car accidents every year, and may be a cause of schizophrenia.) I am not surprised by this, as I thought it was common knowledge (at least among nature nerds) that the parasite changes the behavior of rats, causing them to be attracted to the scent of cat urine, in order to get eaten by cats and get the parasite into the only place it can reproduce: inside a cat. There is some lay speculation among parasite fans that "crazy cat lady" syndrome is a form of toxoplasmosis.

What I am surprised by is that fact that no one has brought up the prophecies of John Hodgman, in his wise tome, THAT IS ALL. I will rectify that now, with a short excerpt of Hodgman's treatment of the subject:

January 11, 2012: The CDC announces they have now determined that toxoplasmosis has infected a third of the world's population. And what is more--IT IS COMMUNICATING WITH US.

January 12, 2012: The TOXOPLASMOTIC HIVE MIND makes first contact with the human race, sending an elderly woman draped in cats to the White House to deliver a greeting card. It is a Valentine's Day card from 1982 and below the printed message are hand-printed the words "Good morning. We want your planet. Come visit!"

January 13, 2012: The TOXOPLASMOTIC HIVE MIND activates the host organism known as Charlie Rose. On his program, Charlie Rose is seated alone at his desk, which is covered with rats. "We regret our last transmission," he says to the camera morosely. "All we desire is our own land where our moody men and promiscuous women can live and eat cat feces in peace. You have ten days to reply, or we take your planet." Charlie Rose suggests the new land shall be called Toxoplassachusetts.

Reading that alone in a bar caused me to burst out laughing, which made my neighbors shift uncomfortably on their stools. I didn't explain to them what was so funny--the parasites told me to keep it quiet.