Close to Home by John McPherson for February 12, 2016

No gummi worms?

Okay, I guess I haven’t had enough coffee yet because I just don’t get today’s comic. Would someone please help me understand it? Thanks.

I don’t get this either.

That makes five of us. Guess I will check back later to see if anyone “got” it.

I got nothin…..

you don’t suppose this is actually true??

I don’t get it either

All of these are parasitical, they can be found in dogs, cats, and (less common) humans

Why this is intended to be funny…..okay, now this is where I’m lost.

It’s just making fun of the tendency of some states to go overboard in having “state this” or “state that.” Originally, all that states used to have was a state bird (for example, the state bird of the state I grew up in, Delaware, is the Blue Hen), but now some states will also have a state animal, a state dog, a state cat, a state mineral, a state fossil, it goes on and on…

We have a state lottery.

I don’t get it either.

I used to live in Montana and recently moved to Oregon. I have observed that both states have earworm infestations. Can more than one state have the same state worm?

Hookworms used to be more of a Southern parasite since most species adapt better to warm weather if I remember right. The southern drawl is said by some researchers to have originated with hookworm infestations many years ago. The worms would enter the body through bare feet and build up to levels high enough to sap a lot of nutrition out of the body leading to people feeling tired and thus talking slower. Eventually, the drawl came to be a socially learned behavior.

Hey, I’m from the Arkansas Ozarks, I know about enjoying life too. I’m just passing on a little ancient scientific knowledge. ;)

It would be “State Intestinal Parasite” not worms.

Texas=A whip, iowa=(fish)hook, ohio=(measuring)tapeworm. I dont get Utah