According to the Schmidt sting pain index, the pain from a bullet ant sting is a 4+ which is more than a tarantula hawk wasp. It is the equivalent of being shot. The pain is known to cause spasms and throbbing of the area including burning and an overwhelming pain that lasts 24 hours. The toxin from the bullet ant sting affects the CNS or central nervous system and causes uncontrollable shaking. In research labs, the bullet ant venom is also being studied for its medicinal applications. We have been discussing the venom and sting of just one ant, yet a Mauwe boy will have to wear a glove filled with them.
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The bizarre ritual is an initiation rite for young Mauwe warriors to test their pain threshold and their courage. Only if they bear up the pain, will they gain rite of passage into becoming a Mauwe warrior. To do this, hundreds of ants, in fact, loads of them are collected and then dipped in a natural sedative to make them unconscious. They are the woven into a glove that is made from large leaves. The glove looks similar to an oven mitt. The boy will have to wear this glove on his hand by which time the ants regain consciousness. You can imagine what could be happening next which could be considered a nightmare from hell for any ordinary human being.
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The Mauwe boy will have to wear the glove full of bullet ants for ten minutes. Once the ten minutes are over, the arm of the wearer is paralyzed because of the venom which starts to act within a short while. The boys are allowed only one type of protection and that is the hands ate coated with charcoal which is hardly much of a protective gear against the vicious ants.
The charcoal is applied to confuse the ants to reduce their stinging. But!! If you thought this is over for the boy, it is not!! To truly prove himself, a Young Mauwe wannabe warrior has to go through the same painful ordeal more than 20 times in a course of the coming months which may also continue into years.
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