Nits
Created | Updated Apr 9, 2004
I just washed my hair and to my horror found some head lice (Don't worry - they can't be passed on over the internet). This means that within a few days there'll be so many they'll start holding the Nit-Lympics. My hair is very long and for some reason head lice love it. Anyway - after vigourously attacking my hair with a nit comb, several questions arose...
1. Why do head lice exist?
2. Do they act like other animals (packs, herds, flocks, families etc.)?
3. What are we to head lice?
4. Why do I keep my hair so long if I know it's going to cause problems?
The answer to all these questions is 'I dunno', but that wouldn't make a very interesting entry so I'm going to speculate. I will understand if you don't find nits the most fascinating of subjects and stop reading now.
1. Why do head lice exist?
I suppose you could say that they were created by God, the same as all the other animals - but that doesn't give a reason for their existence. Mind you, there isn't really a reason for our existence either. We're just here, and we might as well make the most of it now we are. Unfortunatley, it's rather obvious we're not making the most of it....
Anyway, back to nits. They exist because they were created, whether by God or just by a random series of events that turned us from single cell organisms into human beings.
2. Do they act like other animals?
Think about it. A mature head louse walks onto your head and lays a bunch of eggs - let's say it lays 5. In 10 days time those 5 eggs hatch, giving you 6 head lice in total. In another 10 days those 5 head lice can lay their own eggs - again we'll say each lays 5. 10 days after that 25 new head lice hatch. 30 new head lice in as many days. And that's if they only lay 5 eggs, which they of course don't. The original head louse will also be laying more than just one batch of eggs, as will the others be when they grow up. That's a lot of head lice.
So....do they live in family groups? Do the parents look after their young, or at least check the eggs come to no harm? Do they think of each other as aunts, uncles, mums, dads, brothers and sisters? It would be interesting if they did, though annoying if they decided to hold a family meeting above your left ear.
Somehow I can't see head lice acting like families, though I do sometimes wander about mating. Are their males and females? I suppose there must be really, but it's not something you normally think about. Imagine taking a head louse to the vet and asking it which sex it was...
3. What are we to head lice?
A head louse must know it's walked off of someone's head and onto someone else's. There'd be a change in colour, smell, greaseyness etc. But do they think of it as just hills or something? Of course, this is all assuming that they do actually think in the first place.
I really have no idea about this one. I'd have to spend a day as a head louse to find out - and that isn't a desirable thing. Imagine crawling onto my brother's head? Yeurk!
4. Why do I keep my hair so long if I know it's going to cause problems?
Erm....because I'm an idiot.
1. Why do head lice exist?
2. Do they act like other animals (packs, herds, flocks, families etc.)?
3. What are we to head lice?
4. Why do I keep my hair so long if I know it's going to cause problems?
The answer to all these questions is 'I dunno', but that wouldn't make a very interesting entry so I'm going to speculate. I will understand if you don't find nits the most fascinating of subjects and stop reading now.
1. Why do head lice exist?
I suppose you could say that they were created by God, the same as all the other animals - but that doesn't give a reason for their existence. Mind you, there isn't really a reason for our existence either. We're just here, and we might as well make the most of it now we are. Unfortunatley, it's rather obvious we're not making the most of it....
Anyway, back to nits. They exist because they were created, whether by God or just by a random series of events that turned us from single cell organisms into human beings.
2. Do they act like other animals?
Think about it. A mature head louse walks onto your head and lays a bunch of eggs - let's say it lays 5. In 10 days time those 5 eggs hatch, giving you 6 head lice in total. In another 10 days those 5 head lice can lay their own eggs - again we'll say each lays 5. 10 days after that 25 new head lice hatch. 30 new head lice in as many days. And that's if they only lay 5 eggs, which they of course don't. The original head louse will also be laying more than just one batch of eggs, as will the others be when they grow up. That's a lot of head lice.
So....do they live in family groups? Do the parents look after their young, or at least check the eggs come to no harm? Do they think of each other as aunts, uncles, mums, dads, brothers and sisters? It would be interesting if they did, though annoying if they decided to hold a family meeting above your left ear.
Somehow I can't see head lice acting like families, though I do sometimes wander about mating. Are their males and females? I suppose there must be really, but it's not something you normally think about. Imagine taking a head louse to the vet and asking it which sex it was...
3. What are we to head lice?
A head louse must know it's walked off of someone's head and onto someone else's. There'd be a change in colour, smell, greaseyness etc. But do they think of it as just hills or something? Of course, this is all assuming that they do actually think in the first place.
I really have no idea about this one. I'd have to spend a day as a head louse to find out - and that isn't a desirable thing. Imagine crawling onto my brother's head? Yeurk!
4. Why do I keep my hair so long if I know it's going to cause problems?
Erm....because I'm an idiot.
