Tuesday, January 15, 2008





If you don't share my visceral aversion to brawny, dangerous insects, you might be a potential aficionado of the winner-takes-absolutely-nothing world of Japanese bug fighting.

(Hat tip: Aberrant News.)
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7 comments:

Anonymous said...

"...you might be a potential aficionado of the winner-takes-absolutely-nothing world of Japanese bug fighting."

Well, the insectoid "winners" may not get anything other than some chitinous, prehensile satisfaction of having survived, but stag beetle to stag beetle bouts in Japan can sometimes involve betting in the hundreds to low thousands of dollars.

Japanese stag beetle "fight managers" or owners sometimes pay hundreds of dollars for a good, large, fighting stag. And, they are pampered. Sorta like sumo wrestlers or pit-bulls.

Personally, I find the whole thing rather creepy and somewhat nauseating.

7:13 PM
Anonymous said...

Did you notice the advertising on the bottom of the video screen? Japanese women for dating! So while you're watching bugs fight they are selling dates with Japanese women. I don't know where to go from there, but I bet PKD would.

Michael

7:47 PM
Katie said...

Ah...those wacky Japanese...

Couldn't watch that whole thing though. Big bugs creep me out too much.

8:26 AM
Mac said...

Katie--

I totally sympathize. I find snakes graceful, but anything with more than four legs makes me uneasy.

7:34 PM
Anonymous said...

I watched the praying mantis-wasp match to the bitter end. Didn't we do this kind of thing as kids (I vaguely seem to recall)? Anyway, I though the mantis was gonna rip that wasp to shreds but I think the wasp fought a smarter fight (if that makes sense) and the mantis ended up being the one to croak. I guess having a venomous sting is a definite advantage....

10:09 PM
Anonymous said...

I dunno--the stag beetle beat the scorpion in the video linked to here, despite _it's_ venomous stinger. Killed it daid.

May have more to do with which bug gets a damaging blow in first. And "luck."

2:33 AM
Anonymous said...

I hate to admit this, but I was somewhat fascinated by the match and had to restrain myself from watching more. The old blood-lust or something (or bug-lust?) Is this kind of thing in essence any different from dog-fighting or cock-fighting? It does get the (bug) juices flowing, though, I gotta admit....

9:08 PM

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