So I recently learned about this place that exists, that would basically be my personal hell on earth. In Borneo, there's a cave called "Deer Cave" that, from most of the photos, looks like a typical beautiful cave in a lovely tropic region. But, their ecosystem is all based on the bats that live at the roof of the cave, and the guano (bat shit) that falls to the floor of the cave and piles up in huge mountains. And guess what eats the guano? Cockroaches. Huge ones, like 2-3 inches long, and they literally live in a swarming CARPET that goes down to the deepest levels of the guano. Millions and billions of them. They even eat the dead and still-alive dying bats that occasionally fall from the ceiling. There are youtube videos of it....from afar, it looks like the ground is full of pebbles, but then they're moving, and then the camera zooms up close and you see that they aren't that tiny after all, and you see what they really are. Youtube it. I dare you. Can you imagine that for a novel? Like, what if a serial killer's MO was to tie up/drug their victims, then haul them into that cave and leave them there? (That would be similar to a certain Dean Koontz book, not to give spoilers to anyone who doesn't know which one) Or what if a tyrannical government disposed of criminals that way - instead of prison, you get solitary confinement in Roach Land, and have to also eat them as a food source? Seriously, that idea doesn't fit into any of my novels, so if you need something gruesome for your crime fic than totally use it. Gross!!!
If there is a hell, that would be the place. Forget fire and brimstones and cackling devils. THIS would be the stuff of nightmares. An eternity of infinite roaches two-three inches long crawling on you, eating you... This is literally the single most terrifying thing ever. Forget spiders or clowns. They're cool. This is proof that if there is a God, He is insane!
Doesn't scare me, I am quite manly with insects. I wrote a story about farming 'roaches...never saw the light of day. Might dig out and blog that, later on. I find crematoria spooky, and farm furnaces, maybe a forest of those spider trees in Australia? Every tree - a spider, branches wiggle, scoop children into the trunk mandibles. I'll never go there.
The cameramen were some adventurous souls. I mean, filming it involves wading deeply into the surging tide of roaches (like a foot deep) and probably having them crawl on you and stuff.
And on the plus side, if cleaned up a bit the whole big mess could make great fertilizer for organic farmers fields. Someone could probably get rich -
I don't think caves in general are so beautiful and/or tropical. Then again I've seen the Amblypygi and I kinda like them. There's so many interesting critters in there... Some undiscovered... In fact I have a scene like that where prisoners in a pre-medieval hole are frequently assaulted by insects trying to eat them. Of course not as many as you described, but still. They end up eating the bugs because the wardens aren't really feeding them.
According to this article from BBC Future... "They’ll also eat just about anything, from cork to paper to grass. In the heaviest of infestations – on Navy submarines and in children’s bedrooms alike – they will gnaw off their sleeping victims’ eyelashes." There's a cheery thought.
Thus confirming my theory that roaches, all roaches, must die. Spiders are cool in my book, but roaches? KILL!!!!
Eh, just roaches. I guess they're gross and all, but not that dangerous. More of a creep factor than anything else. Only a few animals get me on edge. Not really scared, more of just on high-alert. Grizzlies, polar bears, tiger sharks, certain scorpions/spiders, water moccasins, and few misc. I'll hold a rattlesnake, grab a wasp to move it outside, swim with a gator (won't fuck with a crocodile), or whatever.
Also, there's a few cockroach farms in China where they're bred by the hundreds of thousands for use in research, and there's pens where they're swarming around everywhere. In one large news story, a farm's "security" was improperly handled and a bunch of the roaches escaped. Millions of them, fleeing into the nearby population. The neighbors of the farm weren't too happy.
Reason I'm not worried over cockroaches? Because things like this exist. [Not for the faint of heart] Spoiler: Messed up shit That's the Botfly. It lays it's larvae on a horsefly or mosquito which lands on a human. The larvae rubs off on the skin and buries into the flesh. Where it eats you. From the inside. Yes, there's documentation of it eating brain before as well. or How about the Japanese Giant Hornet that's three inches and sprays a flesh-melting poison? Where does it aim? Your eyes. How does it kill smaller insects? Rips them apart piece by piece.
Ok, folks, here's how it goes: If you post a video with some messed up shit that can be seen in the static image of the video before you hit play, put it inside a spoiler tag, ffs.
