# animaleating(urp) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 17, 1999, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animaleating-urp/2031 "1999-07-17T18:14:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 1999, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animaleating-urp/2031/1 "1999-07-17T18:14:00Z")
When did people start killing and eating animals?They probably didn’t start out that way.Did some guy say,"Hey,look at that chicken,lets kill it and eat it?"That wouldn’t occur to me.Why don’t people eat carnivorous animals?Because they are too toxic,or because they could kill you first? ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 1999, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animaleating-urp/2031/2 "1999-07-17T18:40:00Z")
This is a joke, right ? ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 1999, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animaleating-urp/2031/3 "1999-07-17T19:23:00Z")
People ate other animals before they even became “people”. Do you really think our primate, amphibian, and aquatic ancestors were all vegans? Unless, of course, you’re a creationist. In that case we started right after God punished us for eating fruit! ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 1999, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animaleating-urp/2031/4 "1999-07-17T20:39:00Z")
Well, I saw on some TLC show that very early humans were actually scavanger not hunters. I dont think mammal hunting or scavaging is popular with the rest of the primates, but dont heave a sigh of releif just yet, cause lots of primates are quite fond of _urp_ insects. With reguards to the carnivore eating, rabits breed like rabits because they are natures lunch. Wolf have a lower birth rate because there wouldnt be enough rabits to go around, so rarity might be a reasonable argument. I’m not really sure, but I dont _think_ the farther up the food chain you get the worst stuff tastes. I dont know why this is might be but I dont know of a lot of carnivore that eat other cornivores. Wolves will kill dogs and cats, but just leave the carcus. I recently heard on CNN that most shark attack victims are spit out, which seems to support this theory since humans dont have any effective natural defense against sharks(other than brains). Once we are in the water we should be real easy pickings, but sharks prefer fish wich can swim faster hide better, and seals that have claws. Of course more recently in human history you have to wory about toxin concentration, but as far as I know carnies just prefer the herbos. * * * [Insert Clever Quote Here] ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 1999, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animaleating-urp/2031/5 "1999-07-18T00:04:00Z")
I’m imagine we eat mainly herbivores because they’re more plentiful, easier to raise and feed and don’t have pointy teeth which is a plus when you’re trying to fire a bolt gun into their heads. My question is who decided things like “Here’s a lobster… I think that to eat this, I should set it in boiling water for XX minutes” and other culinary ideas that don’t jump into mind when looking at the component parts. * * * “I guess it is possible for one person to make a difference, although most of the time they probably shouldn’t.” ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 1999, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animaleating-urp/2031/6 "1999-07-18T03:16:00Z")
Nit to pick: Components _are_ parts. Using both is redundant. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 1999, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animaleating-urp/2031/7 "1999-07-18T03:52:00Z")
Inre Jophiel’s lobster: Or cassava, which has to be soaked, boiled, ground and I don’t know what else for the proper lengths of time, in the proper sequence, in order to rid it of cyanide, and if you do it wrong, you eat it and drop dead. “I don’t want to try it, you try it.” “I’m not gonna try it. . . .” * * * ``` Bruce ``` Love Poems - [http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Lofts/9104/](http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Lofts/9104/) ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 1999, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animaleating-urp/2031/8 "1999-07-18T05:17:00Z")
I’ll thank you to leave my nits alone. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 1999, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animaleating-urp/2031/9 "1999-07-18T06:15:00Z")
Hey, y’all. Here in the Appalachian mountains, possum is good eatin’s. Them critters eats lotsa bugs. Seriously, though, other carnivorous animals that make it onto the dinner plate: Sharks, snakes, dogs, and a wide variety of fish. Granted, many of these aren’t very appetizing to your average western-civilization Joe. I think the main reason most of the meat we eat is from herbivorous animals, is that herbivorous animals are much easier to raise on farms. (Come to think of it, I think opossums are omnivorous. :)) * * * Carpe hoc! ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 1999, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animaleating-urp/2031/10 "1999-07-18T08:36:00Z")
vanillanice writes: Did some guy say,"Hey,look at that chicken,lets kill it and eat it?"That wouldn’t occur to me. –Pause and reflect. It wouldn’t occur to you in your current situation. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 1999, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animaleating-urp/2031/11 "1999-07-18T15:09:00Z")
First, they wouldn’t know its a chicken. Anyway, why are people asking questions that no on anywhere would have the answer to? One can only guess, Van. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 1999, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animaleating-urp/2031/12 "1999-07-18T15:28:00Z")
Jophiel, Food preparation is not written in stone. How do you prefer to have your green beans or steak cooked? I like my green beans crunchy. We as a species have been cooking crabfish and all other kinds of food for quite awhile. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 1999, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animaleating-urp/2031/13 "1999-07-18T15:34:00Z")
In primitive times, I’m sure people ate whatever they could get their hands on. This no doubt included a lot of grubs and such. I’m no anthropologist, but don’t our teeth indicate that we’ve been omnivorous for quite some time? ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 1999, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animaleating-urp/2031/14 "1999-07-18T23:52:00Z")
I heard this from my father once, who said he heard it on Rush Limbaugh, so take with a large dose of salt 😉 But Rush is supposed to have said that he heard (no, I don’t know his source) that primitive humans were supposed to have been largely vegetarian. But when they discovered meat, they began to advance because meat is a better source of fat and energy. So eating meat increased their brain power. _shrug_ Take it for what it’s worth 🙂 Jophiel, on the subject of cooking and time, I’d guess lots and lots of trial and error. * * * “I hope life isn’t a big joke, because I don’t get it,” Jack Handy ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 1999, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animaleating-urp/2031/15 "1999-07-18T23:53:00Z")
Actually, on the subject of how we decided what we could or couldn’t eat, I’d say again lots and lots of trial and error 🙂 * * * “I hope life isn’t a big joke, because I don’t get it,” Jack Handy ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 1999, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animaleating-urp/2031/16 "1999-07-19T00:15:00Z")
Gr8Kat: Rush’s theory is nonsense. More than likely, our pre-human ancestors were eating grubs and insects and fruit and roots and whatever else they could digest. No doubt the things we ate changed with the climate, with migration, and with the development of culture. I don’t think there is any evidence of a sudden surge in meat-eating and a subsequent increase in brainpower. Actually, what we call civilization is usually more closely associated with agriculture. If I’m not mistaken, folks were planting stuff more than breeding animals in the early days. I’ve even heard it said that one of the earliest signs of stable civilization was the production of beer. IMHO, beer does not increase brainpower. (I know, I know, it was different from the beer we have today) ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 1999, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animaleating-urp/2031/17 "1999-07-19T02:02:00Z")
James Burke once said that the most important invention for human civilization was the plow. a)It marked the transition of humans from hunter/gatherer to farmer. b)The plow allowed a human to till more soil and produce a surplus of food. The surplus could be sold to people who now did not have to be farmers and could pursue other lines of interest…like trying to figure out the meaning of life and the beginning of religion. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 1999, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animaleating-urp/2031/18 "1999-07-19T02:47:00Z")
The secret to the success of the human species is adaptability. A large component of this is the ability (and willingness) to eat practically anything! If we’re hungry, we’ll eat bark, bugs, pond scum, even each other. A tiger will starve before he eats a turnip! ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 1999, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animaleating-urp/2031/19 "1999-07-19T03:07:00Z")
Cows have been known to eat “self dead” rabbits or hares. When they do this they supposedly lack minerals. The same thing could have happened to early humans. As humans began to migrate north it would have been harder to find fruits and other herbal foodstuffs, so; “look there’s a chicken, lets eat it”. * * * ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 1999, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animaleating-urp/2031/20 "1999-07-19T07:33:00Z")
Actually a chicken is not the best example of “Look, let’s eat it.” The chicken in it’s original form was not an impulse item. Today the chicken has too much meat, can’t fly and is really dumb. How can a bird like that survive in the wild? It can’t. The modern chicken is a result of generations of selective breeding. It can only be bred domestically, to be served on your domestic table. Or in the Colonel’s tub. We have just about bred the turkey to these same specifications(except for a few wild, gamey ones that appear on really strong bottles of bourbon). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animaleating-urp/2031.md?page=2)