re: #192 Wendell Zurkowitz ((slave to the waffle light))

please put those things behind some sort of curtain!!!

Years ago, when on a mission in southern Venezuela, I was about to swim in the Orinoco (despite warnings about the piranha), when I was stopped by a frantic doctor. He insisted that I put a condom on. I looked at him in amazement and then he basically explained to me this about a tiny fish known as the candiru.

Described as “very small, but uniquely occupied in doing evil,” the candiru favors a more stealthy approach than its flesh-eating counterpart. Rather than go for an outward attack, the candiru implants itself inside the human body through a rather unusual entryway - the human penis.
The fish swims up the penis into the urethra - upstream, which is an impressive feat for such a small fish - where it latches onto the walls with barbs. Removal can be very difficult, as the barbs face one direction only, and pulling on the fish only causes them to sink deeper into the walls of the urethra.
Even more frightening than the prospect of a tiny fish making your penis its home, is the prospect of getting it out. A few native people suggest home remedies like a hot bath or an herbal soak, but for the most part, the verdict is a unanimous and horrifying one: complete removal of the “offending appendage” altogether.