# Would you eat live maggots? What if I offered you $1,000? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 22, 2008, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-eat-live-maggots-what-if-i-offered-you-1-000/450195 "2008-05-22T02:26:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-eat-live-maggots-what-if-i-offered-you-1-000/450195/21 "2008-05-22T05:26:30Z")
[QUOTE=alice\_in\_wonderland] I make quite a bit more than $1,000 for 35 hours of sitting in an office, working on a computer - I’m afraid that’s not much of a teaser. [/QUOTE] Yeah, but eating maggots is, what, a couple seconds of work. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-eat-live-maggots-what-if-i-offered-you-1-000/450195/22 "2008-05-22T05:26:36Z")
What kind of maggots? ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-eat-live-maggots-what-if-i-offered-you-1-000/450195/23 "2008-05-22T05:41:19Z")
Paging \*\* Mangetout\*\* As for myself, sure I would, no problems at all. ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-eat-live-maggots-what-if-i-offered-you-1-000/450195/24 "2008-05-22T06:07:21Z")
I’d do it, so long they were [sterile medicinal maggots](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maggot_therapy). Hell, I ate a mealworm for free when I was a kid. If you could cook some of them up in some fried rice, you wouldn’t even notice them. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-eat-live-maggots-what-if-i-offered-you-1-000/450195/25 "2008-05-22T06:11:27Z")
Depends how drunk I was. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-eat-live-maggots-what-if-i-offered-you-1-000/450195/26 "2008-05-22T07:00:09Z")
I’d eat a couple for a thousand bucks. A small enough number where I could bascially throw them down like pills. But anything approaching a _mouthfull_ and I’m not game, no way, more money please. And yes, the maggot would have to shower first and maybe brush his teeth. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-eat-live-maggots-what-if-i-offered-you-1-000/450195/27 "2008-05-22T07:33:03Z")
I’d try a couple for $1000. Whether I ate more would depend on how much I liked them. ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-eat-live-maggots-what-if-i-offered-you-1-000/450195/28 "2008-05-22T07:35:38Z")
If I knew where they came from, then sure. Even if I didn’t, I’d do it for 1000$ sure. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-eat-live-maggots-what-if-i-offered-you-1-000/450195/29 "2008-05-22T08:13:51Z")
No problem. I’ve already eaten barbequed grubs, deep fried termites (yum!) and crickets (okay with plenty of salt and lime juice.) ---
**Author:** ![BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-eat-live-maggots-what-if-i-offered-you-1-000/450195/30 "2008-05-22T08:28:05Z")
[QUOTE=alice\_in\_wonderland] I make quite a bit more than $1,000 for 35 hours of sitting in an office, working on a computer - I’m afraid that’s not much of a teaser. [/QUOTE] Dammit, I just knew English was the wrong major. ---
**Author:** ![Jpal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a698b9/32.png) [@Jpal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jpal)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-eat-live-maggots-what-if-i-offered-you-1-000/450195/31 "2008-05-22T11:42:03Z")
Fill my gas tank and I’ll eat a handful. Also, grab me a soda while you’re there. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-eat-live-maggots-what-if-i-offered-you-1-000/450195/32 "2008-05-22T12:25:18Z")
At this point in my life I don’t need a grand that much, so no. If there were need, sure. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-eat-live-maggots-what-if-i-offered-you-1-000/450195/33 "2008-05-22T13:34:22Z")
Yes, and according to the terms of the agreement as it has been set forth, that means two maggots. _gulp__gulp_ Pay me. You didn’t say how long I had to keep them down! ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-eat-live-maggots-what-if-i-offered-you-1-000/450195/34 "2008-05-22T13:47:27Z")
This may well have been only show patter, but Jim Rose (of the Jim Rose Sideshow circus) said that if Enigma didn’t chew his maggots thoroughly, they could be swallowed while alive and eat through his upper gastro-intestinal tract. While I don’t believe everything a side-show barker tells me, I have wondered since then whether they could cling to something ‘north’ of the stomach and wreak havoc… If I can cook 'em, we might have a deal - maggot sushi is off this boy’s menu, however. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-eat-live-maggots-what-if-i-offered-you-1-000/450195/35 "2008-05-22T13:52:15Z")
[QUOTE=Jpal] Fill my gas tank and I’ll eat a handful. Also, grab me a soda while you’re there. [/QUOTE] In other words - you’d do it but you’ll hold out for a lot more than a grand 😉 Me? Um, I think it would require a lot more than a grand. Maybe 100,000. And I would not have to _chew_ them - hell, I once made the mistake of chewing a steamed oyster and nearly redeposited it on the table. And what all the others said: it would have to be cleaned. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-eat-live-maggots-what-if-i-offered-you-1-000/450195/36 "2008-05-22T14:03:52Z")
Not a problem, let’s head down to the bait shop right now. They’re $.50 a dozen, which you pay for. I’ll do the whole dozen as long as I can wash them down with beer and then I get to sterlize myself with a shot of bourbon, both of which you pay for too. There’s a bowling alley in the same parking lot as the bait shop I go to, so we can have this whole thing done in 5 minutes. ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-eat-live-maggots-what-if-i-offered-you-1-000/450195/37 "2008-05-22T14:28:27Z")
If they were at the bottom of a shot glass. And the first five shot glasses didn’t contain any maggots. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-eat-live-maggots-what-if-i-offered-you-1-000/450195/38 "2008-05-22T14:37:23Z")
Y’know, I’m sure a lot of people on this board think I’m so open minded my brain has fallen out. I’m so constantly jabbing at the status quo and questioning authority and “shoulds” that it’s become my name, for goodness’ sake! But, I have to admit, this is where I can’t do it. Eating bugs (whether in larval or adult stage) is just something I can’t manage to even think about without going into extreme anxiety territory. I can’t even manage crawdads if I have to shell them myself. No, I don’t think, even for $1,000, that I could manage to do it. And I really need the money! No, it’s going to take some sort of kidnappers holding a gun to my kid’s head hypothetical for me to eat live maggots, as much as I know that’s completely illogical and some people actually savor insects in their diet. I could and have done ground mealworms in bread. I \*might \*be able to do cooked maggots if I could psych myself into believing they were rice just long enough to get them into my mouth. But never live. We’d have to add on at least one more zero, and I can pretty much guarantee I would throw up immediately afterwards just due to the stress of it. I can only imagine that some of you think of being in an open marriage with the same disgust that I feel about eating maggots! There you go. If I’m ever taken to Room 101, you know my torture technique. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-eat-live-maggots-what-if-i-offered-you-1-000/450195/39 "2008-05-22T14:39:18Z")
[QUOTE=pulykamell] Yeah, but eating maggots is, what, a couple seconds of work. [/QUOTE] True. But my job is actually kind of fun, and almost never makes me want to throw up. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![freekalette](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/50afbb/32.png) [@freekalette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freekalette)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-eat-live-maggots-what-if-i-offered-you-1-000/450195/40 "2008-05-22T14:40:48Z")
Hell, I’ll do it for free, just to see what they taste like. But if you still wanna give me a grand, I ain’t complainin’! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-eat-live-maggots-what-if-i-offered-you-1-000/450195.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-eat-live-maggots-what-if-i-offered-you-1-000/450195.md?page=3)