14 DAY TRIAL // Shakespeare's “The Taming of the Shrew” might be one heck of a lesson in playing the dominant and having others do as wanted but, as it turns out, there are some who have what it takes to kick things up a notch and bedazzle everybody in the process.
Long story short, media reports from Japan say that one man living in the country's capital city, Tokyo, claims to have achieved the seemingly impossible: turning a lethal and terribly aggressive insect into his pet.
More precisely, it appears that this man, whose identity has not yet been shared with the public but who reportedly goes by the nickname Mikuru625 on Twitter, maintains that he now keeps a Japanese giant hornet as a pet.
For those unfamiliar with Japan's biodiversity, these insects can grow to measure as much as 1.8 inches (approximately 4.5 centimeters) in length, and have a wingspan of about 2.4 inches (roughly 6 centimeters).
Japanese giant hornets are very aggressive, and do not shy away from turning against people, especially if one is ill-inspired enough to annoy them. Their venom, which can prove lethal, attacks the victim's nervous system and causes tissue damage.
According to Daily Mail, about 40 people living or visiting Japan are killed by such insects each and every summer. How it is then that Twitter user Mikuru625 managed to turn a Japanese giant hornet into this pet?
Word has it that, to begin with, the man used a butterfly net to capture one such insect. He then proceeded to remove its sting and poison sacs while holding it with a set of tweezers. After that, he simply put a leash on it and started carrying it around with him.
“He does bite occasionally but it doesn't really hurt,” the man reportedly wrote in a post on Twitter. To prove that he is no liar and that he does in fact keep a Japanese giant hornet as a pet, he even shared photos of the tamed insect. One of these photos is available next to this article.
Photographic evidence aside, there are many who doubt that a Japanese giant hornet would so easily let a human capture it and turn it into their pet. Thus, quite a lot of people think that the insect featured in the photos shared by Mikuru625 is dead, and that this is the only reason it is so peacefully clinging to its alleged owner's finger.
“These hornets are the nastiest, most aggressive insects in the world. Even without a sting they'd try to bite you to death. There's no way they could be pets,” a member of the online community said. “I can't help having a sneaking suspicion that the hornet might actually be dead,” another one added.