“You could tell it aggravated him a little bit, ... When the show was over, the guy said, 'I guess I'll just take this thing home, sand the paint off and let it rust.' ”
“Parasites are absolutely a bad thing if you're the individual infected by them. But they are a very natural component of ecosystems. Parasitism is the most popular animal lifestyle on the planet.”
“Often, we don't realize we miss infectious diseases until we have invasive species that become pests without their natural enemies. Parasites act like thermostats - when a species becomes abundant it is more susceptible to infectious diseases. The disease acts like a safety valve, keeping populations in check.”
