What a pest!
One of the most resilient creature on planet earth!
After an honest day’s work, you lie on your bed, feeling tired and cozy under your blanket. Just as you are about to dive into a deep slumber, you suddenly feel the urge to drink water; your throat is dry, and you feel as if you’ve returned from the Rann of Kutch. You get up from your bed, agitated, and head to the kitchen. Turning on the light, you see something moving here and there. As the illuminating light reveals the thing crawling on the floor, a sudden shiver of irkiness crawls down your spine. It’s a cockroach—one of the most resilient creatures on Earth!
I'll be frank, I have an intense dislike for these nocturnal scavengers. And I'm confident I'm not alone in this sentiment. Sometimes, it feels like these creatures were specifically designed to annoy us and provoke us to swat them away! I prefer to keep my distance from these insects, not out of fear, but due to my sheer disdain for them. There's a clear distinction between being scared of something and being thoroughly disgusted by it. People often conflate the two, so allow me to clarify.
In my opinion, cockroaches are incredibly peculiar creatures. They possess a face that only a grandmother could love. These critters lay egg sacs containing multiple offspring in damp, warm places. The ootheca covering of the egg sac hardens over time, providing the eggs with robust protection. In essence, these creatures are born resilient. As cockroaches mature, they develop an exoskeleton capable of withstanding up to 900 times their body weight. When it comes to their dietary habits, they are omnivorous, devouring anything from paper to dead meat to rotting vegetables. Do cockroaches bear a strange resemblance to dates, or is it just me?
And just when you think they couldn’t get any creepier, consider this: cockroaches can survive up to a week even after decapitation! Yes, you heard that correctly. The likelihood of encountering a headless cockroach isn’t as low as you might think. This is because, unlike humans, their brains aren’t confined to their heads or a single location in their bodies; rather, they’re distributed throughout their bodies in ganglia. They don’t breathe through their mouths or possess noses on their heads; instead, they respire through openings on the sides of their bodies. With an open blood circulatory system, blood pressure becomes irrelevant, rendering the chances of death from blood loss null.
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And as if their swift movements weren’t unsettling enough, these creatures have been blessed with wings by a higher power! I mean, why not, right? They have wings to flutter and terrify any unsuspecting human they encounter! I’m indifferent to whatever 'natural service' these creatures may provide, but they are undeniably unpleasant.
Their resilience, however, is something to admire. Eliminate one, and several more emerge seemingly out of nowhere. If only I possessed a fraction of their resilience towards my own problems. Unfortunately, the only thing that seems resilient is the onslaught of problems directed at me! In fact, cockroaches serve as apt metaphors for life’s challenges. Squash one, and countless others appear, only this time, the cockroaches have slippers, and you’re the one getting swatted!
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