IKR? Like who the hell figured this out?
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I’ve read fire ants do that - bite with one end and sting with the other. I know from experience that those bites hurt like hell and itch a lot too. I’d have to be pretty desperate to voluntarily sign up for that.
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It’s apparently typically used in situations where a needle and thread might not be accessible (on the battlefield or in certain very remote areas) and the saliva of some of the species used has antimicrobial properties. Used by various societies in Africa, India, and South America.
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Would a fire ant hurt more than stitches? It’s probably faster.
I don’t want to find out what’s worse. Both suck.
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I’ve had stitches, though I can’t recall any I’ve received without local or general anesthetic, so I can’t comment on the relative amount of pain versus stitches.
The ant bites continue to burn for a while, like days to a week, after being bitten. When I’ve gotten them on my ankle my foot swelled significantly, maybe I’m a little allergic and most people don’t react that strongly. I wouldn’t think additional swelling would help healing. I was bitten in the US South, I’m not sure where those ants are from. I don’t recall stitches hurting that much after the fact.
I agree that both suck though.
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Fire ant bites are worse than stitches, no question. But those are bigger than fire ants.
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This keeps getting worse lol
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My Mr. Kitty is pretty spry for 83.
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I heard a talk yesterday about a citizen science app similar to Merlin but for clouds!
Researchers are using photos from this app along with satellite imagery of clouds from above to develop better climate models and to understand how clouds influence climate (which is apparently not very well known still!)
Anyway, I thought some of our outdoor enthusiasts would like it. The free app is called Cloudspotter and it’s put out by https://cloudappreciationsociety.org/
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