How to Kill Snakes and Fleas: advice from 1688

How to Kill Snakes, 1688

"1. How to gather Snakes and Adders to one place. Take one handful of Onion, and ten River Crab-fish, pound them together, and lay it in the places where the Snakes and Adders are, and they will all gather together.

2. To kill Snakes and Adders. Take a large Rhadish, and strike the Adder and Snake with it, and one blow will kill them." 

R. W., A Necessary Family-Book (1688)

A simple and elegant technique: lure the snakes with a giant crabcake and then bludgeon them with a radish.

From the same book, here's How to Kill Fleas:

"Take an Earthen Platter, that is broad and shallow, fill it half full with Goats Blood, and set the Platter under the Bed, and all the Fleas will come into it like a swarm of Bees. Or take the Blood of a Bear or Badger, and put it under the Bed, as before, and it gathers the Fleas to it, and they die immediately."

via Ask The Past (blog)

Wednesday links

August 21st is Dorothy Parker's birthday: quotes, poems, a brief bio, and the weird journey of her ashes

How Not to Get Eaten After Sex (If You're a Black Widow)

This 1960s Comic Strip Claimed Nuclear Explosions Were the Future of Road Construction. Related, in this optimistic 1957 Disney classroom film Our Friend the Atom, radioactive isotopes are depicted as a sparkling, magic dust sprinkled as plant fertilizer and in animal feed.

The World War of the Ants – The Army Ant.

Whatever Happened to the Wild Camels of the American West?

Comics Published by the Federal Government.

ICYMI, most recent links are here, and include the anniversary of the death of Genghis Khan, how easily rats can swim up your toilet, 19th century cancer treatment, alien abduction insurance, and lightbulb history.

The World War of the Ants – The Army Ant

Ant bridge - source

Interesting videos on army ant (wiki) behavior - army ant colonies consist of the queen, the queen’s brood (her eggs), soldiers, and the workers. Army ants are nomadic, making temporary nests as they travel. The nest is made up of the army ants themselves. They form walls and fasten onto each other by using their mandibles (jaws) and their claws. This way, they can hang from a log or another surface while the nest encloses the queen and her brood.

Wikipedia: 

The name army ant (or legionary ant or marabunta is applied to over 200 ant species in different lineages. Due to their aggressive predatory foraging groups, known as "raids", a huge number of ants forage simultaneously over a certain area.

Another shared feature is that, unlike most ant species, army ants do not construct permanent nests; an army ant colony moves almost incessantly over the time it exists.

More at pests.org and DK Find Out

Friday links

Molon Labe! (wiki): yesterday was the anniversary of the battle of Thermopylae.

If You Own Land, How Far Above and Below Do You Own?

The Inventor Of The Phone Was Obsessed With Sheep Nipples.

Predicting weather with bug sex.

Amish man starts Uber-esque horse and buggy ride-sharing. 

The story of the 1776 plot (from within) to murder George Washington and his senior officers.

ICYMI, most recent links are here, and include Milton Friedman's birthday, Beatrix Potter's botanical drawings, how to become a fossil after you die, and, from 1380, the onion test for determining whether someone is or is not dead (with bonus Monty Python).

Predicting weather with bug sex

In this scientific study, the authors examined how the weather—or, more specifically, atmospheric pressure changes – affects the sexual behavior of insect species, specifically the curcurbit beetle, the armyworm moth, and the potato aphid. They found that any change in the atmospheric pressure caused the bugs to be less frisky, likely to protect themselves in situations involving high winds and heavy rains.

Potato aphids were less interested in mating
 when pressure changes heralded a storm.

When they measured the male beetles’ response to female sex pheromones under the different conditions, they found a significant decrease in pheromone response when air pressure fell compared to stable or increasing pressure.

Furthermore, 63 percent of males started copulating faster in the presence of females during dropping atmospheric pressure, a condition associated with high rains and winds. By contrast, under stable or rising air pressure conditions, all males showed full courtship behavior.

Additionally, the amount that female armyworm moths and potato aphids showed mate-attracting behavior was also measured under the three atmospheric conditions.

The female armyworms’ calling was reduced during decreasing air pressure, but the potato aphid showed reduced calling during both decreasing and increasing air pressure, two conditions that can occur with high winds. In both cases, reduced calling went hand-in-hand with reduced mating behavior.

Generic bug sex picture

“The results presented show that three very different insect species all modify aspects of their sexual behavior in response to changing barometric pressure,” explained co-author Dr José Maurício Simões Bento from the University of São Paulo.

“However, there is a great deal of interspecific variability in their responses that can be related to differences in size, flight ability and the periodicity of mating.”

More at Nature and Discover, and here's the full study: Weather Forecasting by Insects: Modified Sexual Behaviour in Response to Atmospheric Pressure Changes

Friday links

The classic 1970 exploding whale video from the early days of the internet, and the Dave Barry column that made it famous.

An Italian village is selling homes for $1.25 so it doesn't become a ghost town.

Watch Beetles Shoot Hot Chemicals From Their Butts to Escape Toad Bellies. This has to be a metaphor for something - discuss amongst yourselves.

Check out this 1861 Victorian sex manual - it's chock full of useful information.

Alcohol Helps Clean Toxins From the Brain, Study Shows. This reminds me of the theory that alcohol thins the brain cell herd, as it were, by killing off the slower neurons and, therefore, contributing to the overall health of the herd. Not buying it. 

Kind of related to the above: Chemical found in McDonald’s fries may be cure for baldness, study finds. The new healthy diet - alcohol and McDonald's fries. 

ICYMI, Monday's links are here, and include the physics of sunsets, World Nutella Day (with a canonical list of Nutella recipes), the world's oldest bottle of wine, NatGeo's visit to the coldest city on earth, and the last photo taken of President Abraham Lincoln.

Wednesday links

Field Marshall Erwin Rommel was born on November 15, 1891.

When The Photographer Asks You to Look Seductive…

Your house is a gigantic bug habitat, and there's nothing you can do about it.

A Scientific Look at How Female Turkeys Choose Their Mates (and how they avoid the rejects).

Death Rays: The X-Ray Murder Trial That Made International News.

Is a Cat a Liquid? A 2017 Ig Nobel Prize winner explains his work.

ICYMI, Tuesday's links are here, and include making a 10-year malt whisky in weeks, self-help lessons from Napoleon Bonaparte, and some of the best newspaper corrections ever.

Friday links

This short 1901 film has some rather impressive special effects: The Fat and the Lean Wrestling Match.

The Mathematics Of Measuring Cups.

The Krakatoa volcanic eruption in 1883 was so loud it ruptured eardrums of people 40 miles away, traveled around the world four times, and was clearly heard 3,000 miles away.

Flowers Have Secret Blue Halos That Bumblebees Can See.

10 Fun Fashion Facts from the Middle Ages.

How The Princess Bride Built Film’s Most Beloved Sword Fight. Here's the fight scene.

ICYMI, Tuesday's links are here, and include how Martian laws will differ from Earth laws, a set of 1860s photos of the five stages of inebriation, eating the world's spiciest chip, and, for Rita Hayworth's birthday, a compilation of her dancing.

Tuesday links

October 10th, 732 - the clash of civilizations at the Battle of Tours.

What You Actually Got From Those Vintage Back-of-Magazine Ads.

Why 3 Man-Sized Cages Hang From a Medieval German Church Steeple.

Get a Nobel Prize ready: If you’re dealing with menopause symptoms, this beer that might help.

How Do Termites Build Their Huge Structures?

The Plan to Launch Giant Wi-Fi Balloons Over Puerto Rico.

ICYMI, Monday's links are here, and include and include nose hair extensions, body organs you can live without, Columbus Day, the 4.5 million pieces of undelivered mail that piled up in the Washington, D.C. Dead Letter Office during the Civil War. and some remastered and colorized images from the Civil War era (including Lincoln and Mark Twain).

Thursday links

The Battle of Borodino, on which War and Peace and the 1812 Overture are based, took place on September 7, 1812.

Drinking cold water and other 19th century causes of death.

What Did Houses For Ordinary People In Sumer Look Like?

How dictionaries decide which words are obsolete.

Three simple rules for building a tower, if you are a fire ant.

ICYMI, Tuesday's links are here, and include photos from the world's largest annual tomato fight, what happened the day Van Gogh cut off his ear, tater tot history, Neanderthal glue, and the 1921 intelligence test that Edison gave to job seekers.

Friday links

September 2 is V-J Day, the anniversary of the date of Japan's surrender in 1945 and the end of WWII.

Estimated Insect Deaths Due to Collisions with Motor Vehicles

Cancer Treatment in the 19th Century.

Apocalypse update: Martha Stewart and Snoop Dogg recreate that sexy pottery-making scene from the movie Ghost.

Here's How To Actually Cook Food Over Lava.

The World of Competitive Rock Paper Scissors.

ICYMI, Tuesday's links are here, and include Skynet self-awareness day, when margarine was contraband, everything you wanted to know about eyebrow interpretation from the 16th century, and how and when humans first discovered fire.

Friday links

Tomorrow (June 24) is the birthday of Ambrose Bierce, author of The Devil's Dictionary.

Caterpillars Recruit Friends with Anal Scraping. If you know of others who use the same method, feel free to discuss in the comments.

Lincoln Memorial Undercroft - A cavernous three-story, 43,800-square-foot basement that was forgotten about for 60 years. 

How To Steal Pizza Without Anyone Knowing.

How Much Businesses Pay To Get On Those Big Blue Exit Signs. 

These Massive Tunnels Were Dug By Giant Sloths.

ICYMI, Wednesday's links are here, and include the history of the Aloha shirt, the first day of summer, why it's called Area 51, the rural mail carriers who count wildlife on their routes, and how cats used humans to conquer the world.

Thursday links

How to Kill Snakes and Fleas: advice from 1688.

Giant Hand Sculptures Around The World.

The Amazing Architectural Evolution of the Filling Station.

These food photography tricks are kinda fascinating.

Inside the Cut-Throat World of Toddler Bike Racing.

Diet tip of the day: Drinking tequila can lead to weight loss. Among other things.

ICYMI, Tuesday's links are here, and include using a a charge card for a $170 million painting, pasta shape ranking, D-Day links, artificial skating rinks before reliable ice-making technology, and foolproof pick up lines (according to Chinese scientists).

Tuesday links

Scientists Stream Netflix Through Pork Loin.

The Art and Science of Muskrat Cooking - Do you have what it takes to win a rodent cooking competition?

Titanic Food Menus For 1st, 2nd and 3rd Class Passengers.

Roundup of funny (but not gross) colonoscopy videos.

4 Legendary Plant-Animal Hybrids.

Bed Bugs Are Picky About Certain Colors.

ICYMI, Monday's links are here, and include the anniversary of the Battle of Gallipoli (with recovered footage and a Lego re-enactment), a gallery of photos from the massive 1917 Halifax explosion, the 28 fakes species made up by Audubon to prank a rival, and Oliver Cromwell's speech tossing out the corrupt Parliament (plus the post-mortem adventures of his decapitated head, and some bonus Monty Python).

Monday links

When Given Colored Construction Paper, Wasps Build Rainbow Colored Nests.

Goat Rituals and Tree-Trunk Gravestones: The Peculiar History of Life Insurance. Related: How Maritime Insurance Built Ancient Rome.

You can now Rent Julia Child’s Provencale Kitchen as she Left It, via Airbnb

Advice from 1658: How to Give Up Wine.

Check Out All the Largest Flying Boats in History.

How To Dress For Success And To Get A Man: A 1967 Guide. Related, "Women are teachable": 1940's booklet to “assist male bosses in supervising their new female employees"

ICYMI, Friday's links are here, and include the tax implications of the zombie apocalypse, a gallery of vintage mechanical calculators, the British plan for a chicken-heated nuclear bomb. a giant flesh-eating koala , and why UPS trucks don't turn left.

When Given Colored Construction Paper, Wasps Build Rainbow Colored Nests

Biology student Mattia Menchetti gave colored construction paper to a colony of European paper wasps. By gradually providing different paper shades, the wasps turned their homes into a functional rainbow of different colors. 

Mental Floss:

He started by feeding his captive wasps yellow paper, and then gradually began introducing more shades. The insects soon created a technicolor home for their larvae. In addition to making for some unusual eye candy, the nest is sturdy as well. A protein in the saliva of European paper wasps is so effective in making their nests waterproof that it's been used by scientists for a biodegradable drone.

You can see more of Menchetti’s experiment on his website.

Kind of related: 

Men Pee On Beehive, Bees React, Targeting The First Human Body Parts They See.

Watch out for drunk, aggressive unemployed wasps.

Predicting weather with bug sex

How wasps helped give us wine.

Monday links

This 1968 memo to Gene Roddenberry about William Shatner's disappearing wigs from the Star Trek set is a hoot, plus bonus Monty Python/Star Trek mashup.

15 Non-Sex Uses For Condoms.

Photos Of Boys Who Became The Rolling Stones

The Suez Canal opened on November 17, 1869.

A Boat Trip through the Paris Sewer.

A Cockroach Can Bite With a Force 50 Times Its Body Weight.

ICYMI, Friday's links are here, and include lots of paraskavedekatriaphobia (fear of Friday the 13th) information, living next door to Area 51, an 133 MPH lawnmower, the physics of TIE fighter formations, and the (unfortunately defunct) 1950s U.S. Army program that put price tags on equipment.

Russian mosquito festival seeks 'most delicious girl'

UPI: 

A reveler at the 2014 Mosquito Festival in Berezniki
dressed in costume as a tribute to the insects. 

Organizers of a Russian town's annual mosquito festival said this year's event will include a "most delicious girl" contest for women who don't mind bug bites.

Natalya Paramonova, an organizer of the three-day event starting July 17 in Berezniki, said the festival will feature a "most delicious girl" contest, with women in shorts and vests stand still for 20 minutes to allow the bloodsucking insects to feast.

"An expert panel of judges, including a doctor, will examine their bodies and the winner will be the one with the most bites," Paramonova told Interfax.

Organizers said the winner of 2013's "most delicious girl" contest received more than 100 bites during the 20-minute competition.

More at UPI, including a video in Russian (or maybe Martian).

Wednesday links

Don Featherstone, creator of the plastic pink flamingo, died yesterday. He and his wife wore matching outfits every day for 37 years. Kind of related: Why Flamingos Succeed at Escaping the Zoo While All Other Animals Fail.

To Gaze into the Jaws Of Camel Spiders Is to Gaze into the Jaws of Hell.

Fridgehenge: to celebrate the solstice, British guy recreates Stonehenge using old refrigerators.  

Just so you know, there are poop-filled mites on your face right now.

How Many iPhones Does It Take to Stop a Round From an AK-47?

10 Enormous Foods That Have Shattered World Records.

ICYMI, Friday's links are here, and include Victorian fairy tale art, heroic librarians, and Father's Day lessons from Homer Simpson, Walter White, Don Draper, and Tywin Lannister, 

Friday links

c. 1869, portraits from a British "lunatic asylum". And here's a list of reasons for admission to an such an asylum dated 1864 - 1889.

The Science of Smelling Old.

How were raisins made before seedless grapes?

This video of a chameleon is actually two body painted women.

A Colorado Family Built a Home for the World's Weirdest, Most Beautiful Bugs.

Photo gallery of Early Supercomputers.

ICYMI, Thursday's links are here, and include why McDonald's Chicken McNuggets come in 4 shapes, photos of old school bikinis, Turkey’s top religious body now allowing use of toilet paper, and Steve Martin (in 1980) acting out the song El Paso (used in the Breaking Bad finale) with a bunch of monkeys.