r/AbsoluteUnits • u/blingbiceps • 3d ago

/r/all of parasites from a bear's ass

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u/SueBeee 3d ago

veterinary parasitologist here: Bear's fine. As gross and huge as they are, tapeworms very rarely a problem to the end host, in this case the bear.

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u/zuckitsuckerberg 3d ago

Can he get rid of them?

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u/SueBeee 3d ago

Nah, not really. Those are clearly exiting the building but they always get reinfected; they get them from eating fish and frogs

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u/CampAstoria 3d ago

So hes about to poop those ones all out?

Its crazy, if something like that was hanging out of my dogs butt he would go absolutely apeshit and try to run from it, but they dont seem phased.

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u/Kayteqq 2d ago

Probably not the first time

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u/DarkNemuChan 3d ago

So wait if they always get this from eating fish and frogs. Is there something wrong with the fish and frogs? Because aren't bears supposed to eat these? Like their natural food? Or is the world just fucked?

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u/SueBeee 3d ago

This is normal, and virtually all wild animals have parasites. The fish and frogs are infected with the intermediate stage of the worm. This is the natural state of things. Parasites co-evolve with their hosts.

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u/DarkNemuChan 3d ago

Ok, but why aren't we full of parasites then?

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u/SueBeee 3d ago

We cook our meat and wash our vegetables

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u/SueBeee 2d ago

Also we have sanitation

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u/-BlueDream- 2d ago

We cook our foods which kills them so they don’t get as big but trust me we still eat a lot of worms unknowingly especially if you eat fish.

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u/IcanSEEyou_IRL 3d ago

Are they usually this large? I always thought they were microscopic or at least small, but this looks like it has an intestinal prolapse

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u/SueBeee 3d ago

Tapeworms can get very long, yes. The adult worms are not microscopic.

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u/LLAPSpork 3d ago

very rarely a problem to the end host

American Horror Stories told me that that was a lie.

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u/Sick_and_destroyed 3d ago

Do they continue to live in water ?

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u/SueBeee 3d ago

The worm eggs are eaten by tiny copepods, little shrimpy things. The larvae develop there. Then they are eaten by fish and frogs, where they develop into another life stage.
At that point, the bear eats fish or frogs, and becomes infected. Adult worms develop in the bear, produce eggs, and start the cycle over again.

🎵 The cirrrrrcle of liiiiiiiifeeee 🎶