we get to choose the thing that eats us

Filippo Palizzi (Italian painter 1818–1899)

Excavations in Pompeii, 1870

Oil on Canvas

119.5 × 86 cm.

I felt like I needed to clarify some things before we could continue any more conversations on this godforsaken website.

American badger: pallas cat of a wolverine.  Very defensive.  Fuck immediately off. 

Bonus African badger:  Silverback gorilla of mustelids.  Should be a cryptid.  Bro, don’t even.  You are nothing to him.

gets a bad rap

eats A LOT of ticks

“plays dead”

cute

VS

Possum (AUS)

Looks soft, isn’t

Quills are thin and flexible like hairs

Can climb trees

Perpetual bedhead

Smelly

Porcupine (Africa)

Does not look even remotely soft

Very long, stiff quills, especially on its back half

Can rattle hollow quills in its tail as a threat

Cannot climb trees

Will ram you ass-first to stab you if it’s mad

Porcupine (South/Central America)

Prehensile tail like a monkey

Short, thick quills

Snout looks like a marshmallow

Can hang from tree branches by its tail

this is not life-threatening, but also who wants weeks of diarrhea and a fucking parasite in them lol. if you suspect you've already had this and it's passed, i would see a doctor. you might need an antiparasitic anyway. if you're actively sick, see a doctor and they might be able to prescribe medication to help you get over it faster.

try to avoid eating raw vegetables, scrub fruit with a produce brush and rinse thoroughly with water. again, don't bother with premade greens or bagged salads. if you buy lettuce, remove the outer 2-3 layers of leaves.

This is not like e. coli where simply washing off debris will rid produce of possible infection.

If you feel you are at risk of severe illness from a bacterial infection (or just if you're really really trying to avoid shitting your brains out for a week) - AVOID RAW VEGETABLES UNLESS YOU KNOW WHERE THEY CAME FROM (like, your garden)

*technically you can successfully scrub cyclospora off of hard, smooth vegetables like cucumbers or squash. your risk assessment is up to you.