ODDS AND ENDS: Vampire tongues and other offbeat offerings – CANOE

VAMPIRE PARASITE STANDS IN FOR TONGUES OF FISH

You could say these fishes tongues had minds of their own.

Photos have surfaced online of a vampire parasite living in the mouth of a fish after it ate the animals tongue.

Scientist Kori Evans posted pictures of X-ray scans that show a tongue-eating louse known as an isopod living in the skull of a wrasse fish. This four-centimetre-long parasite invades a fish through its gills and attaches itself inside of the mouth via claws.

The isopod then drains the tongue of blood, so much so that the organ dies and falls off. In its place is the parasite.

I found a tongue-eating isopod in one of our wrasse scans this morning while digitizing it, Evans, a fish scientist at Rice University, said in a tweet.

These parasites attach themselves to the tongues of fishes and effectively become the new tongue horrifying.

The vampire parasite makes its home in the Gulf of California as well as in parts of the Atlantic Ocean, according to the U.K. Sun. While the parasite doesnt kill the fish, the animal does use it as a substitute tongue.

Its not known whether if the isopod is harmful to humans.

Backsides of organic beef cows standing in a row.File Photo / Getty Images

PAINTED EYES ON CATTLE BUTTS PROVIDES PROTECTION FROM LIONS

Eyes on your booty will keep the lions away.

In a study published in Communications Biology, researchers believe painting a pair of eyes on the backsides of livestock will scare off preying animals such as lions. The study entitled Artificial eyespots on cattle reduce predation by large carnivores noted many large cats such as lions and tigers are ambush predators that rely on stalking their prey while having the element of surprise.

Researchers noted the cats will abandon the hunt if they are seen by their prey. According to website Science Alert, the experts tested this theory by painting eyes on the butts of cattle located in the Okavango delta region in Botswana.

Researchers determined lions were largely responsible for killing cattle in the area. After painting the eyes on the rears of cattle, they found lions were less likely to attack the animals.

The paint is a simple and low-cost initiative farmers can use to protect their livestock from ambush predators, stated the studys authors.

The researchers studied 2,061 cattle over a four-year period. The animals were kept within a predator-roof enclosure where one-third of the animals had eyes painted on their butts, one-third with painted cross-marks and the remaining were unmarked.

Of all the cows, researchers concluded none of the eye-painted cows were killed by predators while 13 of the unpainted and four of the cross-painted cattle were killed.

The Google Maps app is seen on an Apple iPhone 4S on December 13, 2012 in Fairfax, California.Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

MAN DISCOVERS WIFES AFFAIR ON GOOGLE MAPS

If youre going to participate in extra-marital affairs, try not to do it in plain view of Google cameras.

A heartbroken Peruvian man found out his wife was cheating on him after discovering an image of her and her new lover on Google Maps.

In images that went viral on social media, a Google Maps 360-degree camera had captured the image of the mans wife with another man as they lounged on a bench along a pedestrian path in Lima, Peru.

The image shows a woman wearing a black top and white shirt sitting on the bench and a man stretched out on the bench with his head on her lap.

While both of the lovers faces were blurred, the sleuthing man was able to recognize his wife by the clothes she was wearing, the Daily Express reported.

The brokenhearted man reportedly confronted his cheating wife, who admitted to the affair. The couple later divorced.

WOMAN STRIPPED OF PANTS BY OVER-PROTECTIVE BISON

Those attending the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota last week likely got an eyeful of a womans backside after she was attacked by a bison.

An unnamed 54-year-old Iowa woman was dragged and trashed by a bison after she reportedly got too close to a calf on Wednesday. In a video posted on Facebook by witness Jo Reed, the large animal can be seen grabbing the woman and dragging her across the street into a grassy area.

As people looked on, the bison then violently shook the woman, ripping her pants off in the process.

According to the Custer County Chronicle, about 500 bison blocked the roadway in Custer State Park when the incident occurred.

Reed stated herds of bison appeared everywhere we went, noting they were frisky and punchy with each other.

We came around a curve just behind a group of motorcyclists and there was a herd standing in the middle of the road, most noticeably a cow and her calf which was nursing, Reed stated. Initially one woman got off her bike and approached the herd and then more followed. It was a tense moment.

The woman was flown to a nearby hospital but her injuries were not serious, the Chronicle reported.

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ODDS AND ENDS: Vampire tongues and other offbeat offerings - CANOE