Ring-billed Gulls

Carol, the dairy owner, said Amelia, our Spanish interpreter, received an emergency call yesterday from another dairy. They had lost one of their Mexican workers. Other workers said he'd been acting "funny" lately. After searching the familiar places they looked in the manure pit. (At this part in the story, anyone who works on a farm will involuntarily grimace at the thought of what that could mean.) They found him in the mire but still alive. At the hospital, Amelia interpreted for the doctors. Turns out some time ago the worker had eaten tainted raw pork and picked up trichinosis larvae. The adult round worms migrated to his brain causing vertigo, confusion, and speech and auditory impediments. I looked at Carol. "I saw this on an episode of House." I said. She brightened, "I think I remember that one too." The good thing is the condition is treatable. The bad thing is this means the horrific illnesses depicted on that show can actually happen in real life.