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While we tend to think of the concept of a cat-and-mouse chase to be a one-way affair, this isn’t always the case with the animals that originated the phrase: a parasite, called Toxoplasma gondii, can create a suicidal aggressiveness in mice, specifically directed toward cats, in order to get the targeted feline to eat the infected rodent. Needless to say, there’s a point to such self-destructive behavior, as the Toxoplasma parasite can only reproduce inside the intestines of a cat.
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