Ripley's Believe It or Not by Ripley’s Believe It or Not! for February 03, 2023

So they played poker for freedom instead of cash?

May the Lord be with you as He is with me.

Mithridates not only drank low doses, but developed his own “antidote” and experimented with new methods of diluting toxins, such as feeding them to animals and eating those animals’ organs. His paranoia wasn’t too far-fetched, though, considering his father was assassinated through poison, and his own mother likely tried to poison him right afterward to clear the throne for his brother.

The practice of inoculating yourself to poisons really can work for many poisons, but it does usually have some long-term health consequences. I’m guessing if they had done an autopsy on Mithridates after his death, they would have found a pretty messed-up looking liver.

So how did Mithridates the Sixth die? An archery firing squad or something?

This Mithridates was one of Rome’s toughest enemies during the Republic era, next to Hannibal.

Speaking of that wasp venom effect, I’d hate to think it also applies to murder hornets.

Human venom works exactly the same way! One person expresses it, and a bunch of others automatically come out of the woodwork to join in!

I remember being told, long ago, that if you eat young poison ivy leaves, you can become immune to poison ivy. I don’t know if that is true or not. I have read that a good percent of the population, around 15%, are naturally immune to it to begin with. So I wonder if the person who came up with the “eat young leaves” strategy was naturally immune to begin with. As for others, I would hate to get the rash on the tongue and throat!

Wasps have no sense of sportsmanship.And unlike bees,they’re capable of multiple stings

I’ve been stung by wasps twice. The pain is off the chart. I’m glad none of their buddies showed up.

Proud to say that the US Playing Card company was about a mile from my house. We used to play pick up Saturday football games in their front yard. This escape deck was only one of many notable deck cards they put out – including ALL the decks for Vegas. One final thought: Mithr….who?

Same with bees. When a bee is threatened, she gives off a “bee alarm pheromone”. Like the wasp pheromone, it alerts her sisters to the threat.

“You’ve got to know when to hold ’em, know when to fold ’em, know when to walk away, KNOW WHEN TO RUN!” (With thanx to Kenny Rogers!)

Whatever happened to killer bees?

Those wasps have a social network akin to a flash mob.

“Mebbe vee escape veef dem und ride deez bicycle for just thee fun!” ~ Colonel Klink, dey not put vun owfer on me!

Take care, may Mississippi WASP Willie Ray “We Gone Git Y’all An Hitch Y’all T’ Th’ Bumper Of Ore Pickup An Then See Jess How Woke Y’all Be In The Long Run Ifn We Kin Git Th’ Dang Pickup Storted Tho In Th’ Fust Place” Gritsandeggsord be with you, and gesundheit.

So that’s why “mithridate” is a word for an antidote for poison.

Regarding wasp venom attractive other wasps I can only say—yow!

Wasps: Sounds like the GOP.

Mithridates finally died from multiple wasp stings.

Im 85 percent right 17 percent of the time.

A pharmacy was broken into and a large amount of Viagra was stolen.

When ask, Detective Boudreaux said it didn’t take long to find the thief.

He was a hardened criminal.