Contrary to popular belief Cannibals are Everywhere!

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When we think about cannibalism our minds tend to drift off to secluded area’s where these practices might still take place. We tend to think about tribes that don’t have contact with the modern world, incorporating practices of cannibalism primarily for ritualistic purposes.

Well, today I’m going to inform you that this is not the case. Cannibalism happens across most of parts of the world, even infiltrating our homes and offices. It is as widespread a phenomenon as we are spread across the globe.

My research into the matter started a few days ago after I found that one of the Discord groups I’m actively involved in was dead quiet. It happens from time to time, as with the Steemit platform itself that things start quietening down when the currency isn’t 'performing too well'.

So there I was, a lone wolf in the general chat which made me think about the deafly silence about. So quiet that all you could hear were the crickets chirping, an earlier comment made by one of our fellow members, @fates. That’s when I decided to check these little critters out a bit and see if there is something about them that could spark some conversation.

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As it turns out, these little critters are actually quite, uhm, interesting… They are omnivores so eat pretty much anything. Plants, fruit, vegetables and meat are their sources of nutrition. Here is the kicker though… If they don’t get protein in their diets they will literally start eating each other. They’re cannibalistic little freaks!

These little cannibals have been invading our homes for as long as we’ve inhabited this planet and the ones that really scare me are not the chirping types, but rather the quiet ones. Yup, not all of them chirp and give away their location. Some of these little freaks stealthily stalk our homes. Now that’s a scary thought, huh?

I came across some folklore about crickets as well and let me tell you, it’s not all sunshine and roses. Here is an excerpt from Wikipidia:

In Alagoas state, northeast Brazil, a cricket announces death, thus it is killed if it chirps in a house.

Freaking hell, duh! It obviously chowed one of its mates and decided a little victory chirp is a nice way to celebrate. I can picture a similar victory cry from one of those remote villages after they decided to eat one of their own.

There are more references on Wikipidia like:

Inbreeding avoidance

to avoid the severe negative effects of inbreeding.

These results support the general idea that the principal benefit of outcrossing is the masking of deleterious recessive alleles by wild-type alleles.

What the heck does deleterious recessive alleles by wild-type alleles even mean? All I know is that it sounds scary and we should all hope and pray that some freak isn’t trying to crossbreed them. Can you imagine what could come of that? Monstrous, human eating crickets that use our homes as burrows, that’s what!

Lastly, here is another excerpt from Wikipidia:

The dominance and fighting ability of males does not depend on strength alone; it has been found that they become more aggressive after certain pre-fight experiences such as isolation

What does that tell you? It tells you that these little buggers are aggressive and don’t need strength alone to win a fight. So next time you think of squishing that little cricket think about the fact that it may have been isolated for some time and that you may lose this round, after which it may decide to celebrate by having a nibble and chirping his little victory chirp when it’s done with you.

Rest in peace my dear friends and don’t forget to tell your kids about how wonderful crickets are ;) – Thanks for the thought @bmj, lol.

References:

http://www.whatdocricketseat.org/

Click on Cricket (insect)

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Thanks for reading

Cheers!

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