Zombie fungus real. Infects ants and insects in Brazil (no joke)

[Dirtbag59]

There's also a parasite who's ideal breeding environment is cats stomach however it has an easier time finding it's way into rats. What this parasite does is infect the rats mind and turn off the part of the brain responsible for exercising caution. So instead of receiving messages from the brain that keep rats and mice alive like avoiding cats, staying in the dark, sticking to corners, etc it becomes encouraged to do otherwise increasing its likelihood of getting attacked and eaten by a cat.

Here's where I first heard about it.

What are they?
Parasites that turn victims into mindless, zombie-like slaves are fairly common in nature. There's one called toxoplasmosa gondii that seems to devote its entire existence to being terrifying.

This bug infects rats, but can only breed inside the intestines of a cat. The parasite knows it needs to get the rat inside the cat (yes, we realize this sounds like the beginning of the most ****ed-up Dr. Seuss poem ever) so the parasite takes over the rat's freaking brain, and intentionally makes it scurry toward where the cats hang out. The rat is being programmed to get itself eaten, and it doesn't even know.

Of course, those are just rats, right?

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