Snail Zombies | National Geographic

snails zombies from your backyard
the body of this amber snail has been
invaded by Luke okhla Rhydian worms
turning it into a pulsating snail zombie
this is the bizarre result of the
microscopic worms journey from snail to
bird and back again after incubating in
the snail huge numbers of the parasites
larvae invade the snails eye stalks the
larvae become a vividly colored and puff
up the usually slender eye stalks to
resemble pulsating caterpillars since
birds like this pied flycatcher can’t
resist these lures they pick at them and
end up ingesting the parasite at the
same time after all bird guts are these
worms ideal haven for reproduction
eventually the bird eliminates the new
worm eggs through defecation and the
snail laps up this poopy egg infested
snack YUM
and so the cycle continues but wait
there are not one but two fascinating
twists to this story first the snails
mind is seemingly controlled by the
words the infected snail actually crawls
into plain view of birds as the Sun
rises something the snails never do on
their own
[Music]
it’s as if the worms reprogram the
snails brain for their own nefarious
purpose final fact some snails that have
been infected actually live longer than
those that haven’t I mean how’s that for
irony