How Lice Turn Your Hair Into Their Jungle Gym | Deep Look

Why are itchy lice so tough to get rid of and how do they spread like wildfire? They have huge claws that hook on hair perfectly, as they crawl quickly from head to head. JOIN our Deep Look community on Patreon! SUBSCRIBE to Deep Look! DEEP LOOK is an ultra-HD (4K) short video series created by KQED San Francisco and presented by PBS Digital Studios. See the unseen at the very edge of our visible world. Explore big scientific mysteries by going incredibly small. Head lice can only move by crawling on hair. They glue their eggs to individual strands, nice and close to the scalp, where the heat helps them hatch. They feed on blood several times a day. And even though head lice can spread by laying their eggs in sports helmets and baseball caps, the main way they get around is by simply crawling from one head to another using scythe-shaped claws. These claws, which are big relative to a louse’s body, work in unison with a small spiky thumb-like part