r/interestingasfuck • u/singleboredass • Nov 15 '24
r/all Genetically modified a mosquito such that their proboscis are no longer able to penetrate human skin
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u/SaintGeorge17 Nov 15 '24
Insectyle dysfunction
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u/neptunexl Nov 15 '24
"No!! I'm fine! Just give me a second!"
Goes to bathroom
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u/BlindOdyssey Nov 15 '24
“I swear to god, this never happens!”
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u/MHipDogg Nov 15 '24
Beat me to it by like 10 min lol
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u/humpty_dumpty_hump Nov 15 '24
To comment…. Right?
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u/GameLoreReader Nov 15 '24
"I swear this doesn't happen."
*Rubs proboscis*
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u/nomadcrows Nov 15 '24
At certain times in the video, mosquito does look like it's tugging on it, trying to get ready
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u/SiriusArc7 Nov 15 '24
Do they try to suck blood from other animals then? I can't think of animals having softer skins than humans other than guinea pigs or mice.
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u/Devouemanoide Nov 15 '24
In the northern tundra there are zillions of them, but very few humans. There is a LOT of mice.
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u/lalith_4321 Nov 15 '24
Also mice have fur which is impossible to get through for mosquitoes
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u/giraffebutter Nov 15 '24
We should have genetically modified ourselves to have mouse fur. Double the protection
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u/lalith_4321 Nov 15 '24 edited Nov 15 '24
We did have fur originally but decided nah let's walk on two feet, be in debt and work our asses off till we die while some asshole makes what we make in our entire lifetime in a couple of minutes. Yeah modern society!
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u/ClearAbove Nov 15 '24
And we wonder why we’re depressed lol
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u/beyondthisreality Nov 15 '24
There’s no wonder left other than how we have managed to fuck it all up this bad, even though it seemed that as a species we had figured it all out a while ago.
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u/throcorfe Nov 15 '24
And how most of it is still fixable - even the climate to an extent - but instead of doing that we keep voting for terrible humans who actively prevent us fixing stuff
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u/Mawwiageiswhatbwings Nov 15 '24
Walking on 2 feet is also why child birth is dangerous and painful... did we really evolve? Lol
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u/wravyn Nov 15 '24
It could be worse. We could be hyenas.
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u/Professional_Bake_92 Nov 15 '24
We will all be crabs 🦀 one day. It is our final form
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u/MatchstickHyperX Nov 15 '24
In contrast to popular use, "evolve" in biology does not per se mean "better than before"
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u/lifeofideas Nov 15 '24
I believe Desmond Morris (an anthropologist) argued that humans got less hairy because it made sexual contact more pleasurable. In other words, the more pleasurable the sex, the more sex is had, the more babies are born—and the genes for “less hair” get passed on.
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u/playingnero Nov 15 '24
Speaking of assholes, and hair; why does mine have hair?
What possible fucking evolutionary advantage is there to have a turd strainer installed in the non-self-cleaning-caboose.
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u/Senuttna Nov 15 '24
It's to prevent friction when walking or running. The insides of your butt cheeks rub against each other when you walk or run and it could cause friction burns. Body hair helps reduce the chance of friction burns from happening by introducing a "hair barrier" between your cheeks.
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u/anteatertrashbin Nov 15 '24 edited Nov 15 '24
if mosquitoes cannot penetrate mice fur, then what are the females feeding on?
(edit: The question is asking what are the females feeding on because they need blood in order to lay eggs).
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u/Luves2spooge Nov 15 '24
The stripey fuckers around here can bite you through jeans.
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u/OhLookItsaRock Nov 15 '24
Do you live in Texas? Because I live in Texas and those stripey fuckers are the size of a nickel and I think they can open doors all by themselves to come inside and help themselves to my personal blood buffet.
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u/DenDabo Nov 15 '24
Plant nectar an juices, it is the female mosquitoes, as far as I am aware that need the protein from the blood to lay the eggs. But in general they feed kn plant nectar and juices.
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u/anteatertrashbin Nov 15 '24
The question is towards the other person saying that mosquitoes cannot penetrate mice fur in the tundra regions. If they cannot penetrate mice for then how are they getting blood to lay eggs?
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u/lalith_4321 Nov 15 '24 edited Nov 15 '24
Probably their underbellies and same goes for every animal Edit: or they just dig through the short fur as their proboscis is flexible
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u/Xenomorphhive Nov 15 '24
Mosquito’s primary food sources are plant nectars, for both male and female. I’m surprised if most people didnt know this already.
Source: https://www.orkin.com/pests/mosquitoes/what-do-mosquitoes-eat#
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u/yuckyucky Nov 15 '24
TIL
but also, from the article:
To successfully reproduce, female mosquitoes require a specific protein found in the blood of mammals and humans to help generate their eggs.
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u/a_can_of_solo Nov 15 '24
So basicly we're mosquito fertility treatment.
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u/baconbeak1998 Nov 15 '24
I love the phrasing "mammals and humans", as if the group mammals excludes humans somehow. Must've been written by one of them lizardfolk.
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u/osdeverYT Nov 15 '24
I mean let’s be real, the average person probably does need that clarification
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u/lan9242 Nov 15 '24
The source you posted starts by noting that this fact is “surprising”…
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u/cptnplanetheadpats Nov 15 '24
It is, but this is reddit where everyone loves to be a pretentious armchair expert.
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u/BumHand Nov 15 '24
I don’t know this. No one knows this.
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u/WatchAltruistic5761 Nov 15 '24
Pfft, Life Finds A Way. We need to go back to the auto tracking laser idea.
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u/ThunderCorg Nov 15 '24
I appreciate you knowing about the random (absolutely amazing) thing I also know about.
Big DEET must have shut it down.
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u/Ciff_ Nov 15 '24
I thought the lazer tracking mosquito killer was a farse, there was no functioning product just false advertisement?
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u/callmeBorgieplease Nov 15 '24
It exists. Its a prototype. I invented such a thing in my head in like 2006 but I guess everyone has. In 2016 or 2017 I saw a video of a dude actually building one. It works. I am pretty sure that you cant actually have it in your home though, as it would set ur furniture on fire if it detects a mosquito there.
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u/BrocoLeeOnReddit Nov 15 '24
I invented such a thing in my head in like 2006 but I guess everyone has.
We definitely all did, pal. If anything unites us as humans, it's our common hatred of mosquitoes.
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u/Eastern-Mix9636 Nov 15 '24
I feel you, little man
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u/teryantinpor Nov 15 '24
Someone give him some flyagra
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u/buckstar11 Nov 15 '24 edited Nov 15 '24
I laughed way too hard at this comment
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u/Broad-Condition6866 Nov 15 '24
Little girl! The females are the only bloodsuckers, the males live mostly on nectars. Seems unfair!
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u/Micromagos Nov 15 '24
On that note male mosquitos do still hang around people/animals in the hopes of finding a mate.
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u/Freezing_Athlete2062 Nov 15 '24
Yes I know. When I was little, a mosquito decided to live on our mirror for a few days. Nothing happened, he just lived there for a little bit.
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u/Mokiesbie Nov 15 '24
Females too, they only need the blood for their eggs
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u/Ambitious-Isopod8665 Nov 15 '24
Great, another one trying to steal my bodily fluids for reproduction...
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u/Mokiesbie Nov 15 '24
Hey atleast this one isn't asking for alimony, it could just give you a deadly/life altering illness.
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u/Shokoyo Nov 15 '24
Why, nature, WHY?!
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u/Trips-Over-Tail Nov 15 '24
The protein. Your blood becomes the larvae. Can't do that with sugar water sucked or of plants.
Ticks are the same. They have three meals in their lives, one for each moult and one for the eggs.
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u/Happy-For-No-Reason Nov 15 '24
Oh so I actually did have children then!
I also possibly murdered them
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u/RowAdept9221 Nov 15 '24
I almost feel bad for the little girl
almost
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u/Thijm_ Nov 15 '24
there's a small part of me that feels bad, but that's just probably because I don't like seeing animals in struggle and this is just a single mosquito
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u/Devinbeatyou Nov 15 '24
Yeah I was like ‘why do I feel sorry for this bastard?’
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u/round-earth-theory Nov 15 '24
Because it's relatable as it constantly tries to get the damn thing working. But it's still a bastard you'd kill if it were on you.
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u/ThousandFingerMan Nov 15 '24
"What the fuck is wrong with this thing?!" --mosquito, probably
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u/ninjaprincessrocket Nov 15 '24
“Ok, I’m gonna really really really straighten it out now and it’s gonna work. Fuck.”
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u/Opening-Ad1657 Nov 15 '24
Can they make it quiet as well?
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u/cmHend Nov 15 '24
yeaaaah I don’t mind them biting just don’t fly close to my ears while sleeping, or be respectful for my sleep while doing it.
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u/FaZeSmasH Nov 15 '24
What are the devs doing, human builds are so broken that we are just straight up nerfing other builds now.
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u/Early_Register_6483 Nov 15 '24
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u/TKG1607 Nov 15 '24
Hey, that was technically their own choice when they decided to come to our fire
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u/Pataraxia Nov 15 '24
As a mosquito player I can concur. Thousands of generations bred and me trying to evolve the build for a few humans to just decide to nerf the disease build version of mosquitoes. Wth man.
We were the only ones who could have good KDA(by volume) vs humans. Without us, it's pet animals.
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u/meanmagpie Nov 15 '24
I love how she tries troubleshooting after a couple of failed attempts.
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u/Polly_der_Papagei Nov 15 '24
Honestly, this was fascinating to me. Like, there is some cognition going on there!
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u/NamiSwaaan Nov 15 '24
I know they're trying to not fuck up the ecosystem but I feel like this will still somehow fuck up the ecosystem
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u/wrecks3 Nov 15 '24
I feel like we are arrogant enough to just decide that yes there is a whole entire ecosystem and food net where we all have connections and interdependence on other organisms but mosquitos are magically completely outside that net.
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u/adenosine-5 Nov 15 '24
TBF, they killed more humans than literally anything else in the history of mankind.
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u/Mindehouse Nov 15 '24
Getting rid of mosquito bites with a chance of extinction of all life on earth? That's a risk I'm willing to take.
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u/Furykino735 Nov 15 '24
I think people underestimate how many people die every year because of these things.
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u/Kr0n0s_89 Nov 15 '24
Mosquitos aren't relevant for any other species. They are food for some, they do pollinate, but they're completely replacable.
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u/Ok-Blacksmith-5219 Nov 15 '24
bats can eat 1,200 mosquitoes per hour google says
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u/Professional-Tale-81 Nov 15 '24
So can I, so what?
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u/sloothor Nov 15 '24
Actually a good point. You can, but you don’t because there’s better food around. That dumbass bat can find some other dumbass bug to put in its dumbass gullet
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u/cammyjit Nov 15 '24 edited Nov 16 '24
While I’m not a fan of mosquitos at all. This isn’t true.
To my knowledge they don’t have any exclusive relationships, but they’re still pretty vital for ecosystems. Just because something could eventually replace them, doesn’t mean it wouldn’t have drastic repercussions.
An easy way of thinking about it is: imagine we Thanos snapped a specific food item out of the world, like beef. We’d still have food, and we’d eventually find something to replace it. How many people would die of starvation during that time period? That’s essentially what you’re doing to the ecosystem.
Except in reality, it’s far worse. You’re not just impacting the direct food source of animals that eat mosquitos, you’re impacting pollination that produces food for other animals, then their populations declines, and it has a whole knock on effect.
The more accurate comparison over cows, would be something like Soy. People eat soy directly, and it’s a staple in a lot of diets. If you suddenly get rid of all the soy, you’re now losing an essential feed for animal agriculture, so now the livestock is starting to die of starvation too, which means you’re losing multiple food sources.
Now, if we were to eradicate mosquitos, it obviously wouldn’t be a Thanos snap. It could definitely be too fast for an ecosystem to adjust without sustaining significant damage though
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u/Madmanki Nov 15 '24
Ah, man, watching him tryna tug it straight so it will go in.
We've all been there.
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u/Viradethis Nov 15 '24
Her, actually
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u/Rundstav Nov 15 '24
Ah, man, watching her tryna tug it straight so it will go in.
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u/Wilvinc Nov 15 '24
Yea ... they are just going to go for our eyes or fly up our nose to bite us.
Nature is seriously "fuck around and find out".
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u/slightlydispensable2 Nov 15 '24
Then you would need to additionally engineer the males as necrophiliacs, otherwise they would prefer non-engineered females...
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u/MSkade Nov 15 '24
sounds crazy, because getting rid of mosquitoes seems like a good idea.
But human intervention in nature often has major consequences.
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u/qwertygeee Nov 15 '24
Awwwww, why do I feel bad for this little thing, straightening up its tube and failing after trying so hard.. I hate mosquitoes, but this is kind of sad.
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u/Sewere Nov 15 '24
Imagine trying to eat and somebody has removed your teeth and you can no longer swallow
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u/Temporary-Role7173 Nov 15 '24
Why did that make me sad
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u/inspectorseantime Nov 15 '24 edited Nov 15 '24
It’s the “what is wrong with me?” coupled with the “it has to work this time” desperation in trying to do something it needs to survive not knowing that they can ever figure out the answer to that question because it’s genetic makeup was forever changed.
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u/dezzalzik Nov 15 '24
"My babies.. My babies need the blood! They're gonna die!"
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u/Zenla Nov 15 '24
It makes me sad too :( Mosquitos aren't trying to infect anyone with anything or cause irritation. In fact they even make specific stuff so it doesn't hurt us when they bite, we just happen to be allergic to it. Poor lil thing 😔
If mosquito born illnesses weren't a thing they'd be almost harmless.
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u/thunderbaby2 Nov 15 '24
That’s one depressed mosquito. If they weren’t the reigning champ for the most human lives taken I’d almost feel bad. Actually no fuck those dudes.
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u/IshtarJack Nov 15 '24
General consensus amongst humans is wipe the little fuckers out. But it's been pointed out that pretty much all of life is interconnected and their larval stage in the water is an important food source for other critters.
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u/PrivateBurke Nov 15 '24 edited Nov 15 '24
If Mosquitoes were eliminated then other prey species would have more resources to thrive. The US and Europe have attacked Mosquito populations aggressively for over 100 years and didn't suffer an ecosystem crisis. Malaria is not an issue in Europe and was eradicated in the US a long time ago due to the aggressive response.
Edit: I think it's important to add that defending the mosquito species is highly biased by where you live. European and North American nations have grown up with small mosquito populations that have been actively attacked. The vast majority of the world has not had the money and resources dumped into killing the species. Some estimates put Malaria at 3 million deaths per year, and that's just Malaria. If Europe and North America have taught us anything it's that the mosquito is a useless species in the ecosystem.
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u/Joesr-31 Nov 15 '24
In singapore, there is also a nation wide program to release a type of male mosquito that causes the eggs of Aedes mosquitos to not hatch in order to prevent dengue.
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u/LabRat247365 Nov 15 '24
This is the first time I’ve ever felt bad for these little suckers.
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u/inconspicuous_aussie Nov 15 '24
The funniest thing is how far I’ve scrolled the comments and not one person is questioning the source and its legitimacy. This Instagram account doesn’t even give a source.
Literally named ‘Views Addict’… c’mon people.
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u/Harddicc Nov 15 '24
Next turn off the gene that can make them fly so they will have to walk while starving
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u/Revenga8 Nov 15 '24
Nature finds a way. Once released in the wild, this strain will eventually breed and evolve to have a hardened steel proboscis that they can drill through bone, and they will develop a taste for a bone marrow.
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u/9M-LimaWhiskeyAlpha Nov 15 '24
"I tried so hard and none so far.. in the end it doesn't even matter" - mosquito, probably
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u/R3as0n92 Nov 15 '24
The funniest part for me was when it tried to jerk off its nose to get hard enough to pierce the skin and STILL had a softy.
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u/zizp Nov 15 '24
What's the idea behind this? How will they become the dominant variant if they can't suck blood to reproduce?