this post was submitted on 26 Jan 2025
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[–] Remember_the_tooth@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Not being a doctor of botanoanthropovampirology, it's hard for me to say. A cursory search suggests garlic traveled along population centers as they developed throughout history. This makes sense as vampires would find it both easier to hide and feed. I suspect Romans first acquired garlic to address the vampire problem, but it's now a vestigial phenomenon in Italian cuisine inherited from the Romans. It would be interesting to compile a list of cities by population density and filter out the ones that commonly use a lot of garlic. The remaining cities should be the most vampire-infested, if my theory is correct. Subsequently, the minority that commonly uses garlic in those cities should proliferate along with their garlic, leading to a garlic-rich new culinary culture.

History of Garlic

[–] lime@feddit.nu 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

are you suggesting garlic migrates?

[–] Remember_the_tooth@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Not at all. They could be carried.

[–] lime@feddit.nu 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)
[–] Remember_the_tooth@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

If carried by a swallow, it could grip it by the husk.

[–] lime@feddit.nu 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

not much call for protection from vampires around swallows, i'd think

[–] Remember_the_tooth@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Vampire bats.

Also, I was referencing the coconut scene from Monty Python:

SOLDIER: Are you suggesting coconuts migrate?

ARTHUR: Not at all. They could be carried.

SOLDIER: What? A swallow carrying a coconut?

ARTHUR: It could grip it by the husk…

SOLDIER: It’s not a question of where he grips it it’s a simple question of weight ratios. A five-ounce bird could not carry a one-pound coconut.

ARTHUR: Well, it doesn’t matter. Will you go and tell your master that Arthur from the Court of Camelot is here.

A slight pause. Swirling mist. Silence.

SOLDIER: Listen, in order to maintain air speed velocity, a swallow needs to beat its wings forty-three times every second. Right?

ARTHUR: (irritated) Please!

SOLDIER: Am I right?

ARTHUR: I’m not interested.

SECOND SOLDIER: (who has loomed up on the battlements) It could be carried by an African swallow!

FIRST SOLDIER: Oh, yes! An African swallow maybe…but not an European swallow. That’s my point.

SECOND SOLDIER: Oh, yes, I agree with that…

ARTHUR: (losing patience) Will you ask your master if he wants to join my court in Camelot?!

FIRST SOLDIER: But then of course African swallows are non-migratory.

SECOND SOLIDER: Oh, yes.

ARTHUR raises his eyes heavenward’s and nods to PATSY. They turn and go off into the mist.

FIRST SOLDIER: So they couldn’t bring a coconut back anyway.

SECOND SOLIDER: Wait a minute! Supposing two swallows carried it together?

FIRST SOLDIER: No, they’d have to have it on a line.

SECOND SOLDIER: Well simple - they just use a strand of creeper…

FIRST SOLDIER: What, held under the dorsal guiding feathers?

SECOND SOLDIER: Why not?

[–] lime@feddit.nu 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

i'm aware, but we've already established that it wasn't swallows.

[–] Remember_the_tooth@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Fair enough. I still feel like vampire bats might be a threat. Also, we don't know what reservoirs harbor vampirism. Perhaps sparrows are carriers.

[–] lime@feddit.nu 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

how would sparrows transfer vampirism without teeth?

[–] Remember_the_tooth@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

They wouldn't directly. They'd have to be bitten by something else that acquires vampirism from them and transfers it to another host, like malaria.

[–] lime@feddit.nu 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)
[–] Remember_the_tooth@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Yeah, I think that's how reservoirs work, but I'm not a public health expert.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_reservoir

[–] lime@feddit.nu 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

imagine having to explain at the vampires anonymous meeting that you got it by cleaning out your bird feeder.

[–] Remember_the_tooth@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I think you'd have to at least have an open wound and come into contact with fresh blood since it's a bloodborn pathogen.

[–] lime@feddit.nu 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

...do we know that? maybe vampires just have really bad dental hygiene

[–] Remember_the_tooth@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I think vampirism being a bloodborn pathogen is the consensus.

[–] lime@feddit.nu 2 points 1 day ago (2 children)
[–] Remember_the_tooth@lemmy.world 1 points 13 hours ago

Maybe. Further study is definitely needed.

[–] Remember_the_tooth@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Yeah, as long as it's bloodborn.

[–] lime@feddit.nu 1 points 22 hours ago

well if it's fungal it could have other methods of transmission that aren't documented due to lack of study. like you know how brazil nut allergy can be triggered through fluid exchange