# When Carnivores (Particularly Scavengers) Eat a Kill **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 13, 2010, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-carnivores-particularly-scavengers-eat-a-kill/560554 "2010-11-13T14:25:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2010, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-carnivores-particularly-scavengers-eat-a-kill/560554/1 "2010-11-13T14:25:11Z")
Do they start at the extremities (toes, paws, nose, etc.) and work their way in? Do they tear open the abdomen/thorax and go straight for the heart (so to speak)? What got me thinking about this is that I’ve read that cats, when their owners die at home and the cat risks starvation, will sometimes start to gnaw on the corpse to keep themselves alive. I’m wondering if my cats will start at my toes and work their way up, or if they’ll just slice open my abdomen and skip the formalities. And since SDMB rules dictate that a thread can’t mention teh kittehs without pics, here you go: [Lenny](http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1554181423401&set=a.1010957643146.2002005.1501152027) [Jeff](http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1554180103368&set=a.1010957643146.2002005.1501152027) ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2010, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-carnivores-particularly-scavengers-eat-a-kill/560554/2 "2010-11-13T14:37:13Z")
From what I gather from watching documentaries on the likes of vultures and hyenas, they tear open the abdomen for the most nutritious/juicy parts. ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2010, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-carnivores-particularly-scavengers-eat-a-kill/560554/3 "2010-11-13T14:53:05Z")
They will go for whatever they can get at easiest, and that varies. If we assume an intact corpse then a housecat will have trouble opening the skin, so it will most likely start at the eyes, mouth or anus/vagina. Those areas allow the animal to get an easy purchase to start to work the skin off. If for some reason those aren’t available then the fingers and toes would be the next option. If there are any areas of open skin for any reason, they will usually go for those first. Other small scavengers such as foxes and birds of prey follow similar patterns. Larger animals like dogs or hyaenas have the ability to open something like a human carcasse fairly easily so, as noted, they often open the paunch and go straight for the internal organs. That allows them to eat the greatest amount in the shortest time. ---
**Author:** ![Clark\_Cello](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58f4c7/32.png) [@Clark\_Cello](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clark_Cello)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2010, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-carnivores-particularly-scavengers-eat-a-kill/560554/4 "2010-11-13T15:43:22Z")
> [@Blake](#): > > They will go for whatever they can get at easiest, and that varies. > > If we assume an intact corpse then a housecat will have trouble opening the skin, so it will most likely start at the eyes, mouth or anus/vagina. Those areas allow the animal to get an easy purchase to start to work the skin off. If for some reason those aren’t available then the fingers and toes would be the next option. If there are any areas of open skin for any reason, they will usually go for those first. > Other small scavengers such as foxes and birds of prey follow similar patterns. > Larger animals like dogs or hyaenas have the ability to open something like a human carcasse fairly easily so, as noted, they often open the paunch and go straight for the internal organs. That allows them to eat the greatest amount in the shortest time. This makes sense to me if the person is nude. If not, would I be correct in assuming that the easiest “access points” would be those not covered by clothes, so the cat may start with the eyes, face, etc. ? ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2010, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-carnivores-particularly-scavengers-eat-a-kill/560554/5 "2010-11-13T16:50:27Z")
Rats & mice would have no trouble burrowning in between buttons or up sleeves, but, from what I’ve read of WWI, they still started on the soft, fleshy parts of the face [icky photo](http://www.ww1westernfront.gov.au/beaumont-hamel/images/k00016.jpg) ---
**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:** [November 13, 2010, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-carnivores-particularly-scavengers-eat-a-kill/560554/6 "2010-11-13T19:26:23Z")
> [@Clark\_Cello](#): > > This makes sense to me if the person is nude. If not, would I be correct in assuming that the easiest “access points” would be those not covered by clothes, so the cat may start with the eyes, face, etc. ? **Blake** already mentioned that a cat would likely start with the eyes and mouth. Maybe the nose and ears, but they are mostly cartilage. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2010, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-carnivores-particularly-scavengers-eat-a-kill/560554/7 "2010-11-13T20:13:38Z")
> [@](#): > > If we assume an intact corpse then a housecat will have trouble opening the skin, Let me assure you that a housecat has no difficulty at all in opening human skin. My sister got mauled by one of our cats, when she was young, and it’d have to be even easier on a corpse that isn’t fighting back and is possibly starting to decompose. ---
**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:** [November 13, 2010, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-carnivores-particularly-scavengers-eat-a-kill/560554/8 "2010-11-13T20:23:23Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Let me assure you that a housecat has no difficulty at all in opening human skin. My sister got mauled by one of our cats, when she was young, and it’d have to be even easier on a corpse that isn’t fighting back and is possibly starting to decompose. Maybe then can get through the superficial layers of the skin, but they are not going to be able to open the body cavity, which is lined with connective tissue, very easily. They may also have trouble with the fascia that envelop the larger muscles. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2010, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-carnivores-particularly-scavengers-eat-a-kill/560554/9 "2010-11-13T20:24:13Z")
I don’t know if it’s true, but an article in TIME years ago quoted a tracker saying that dogs eat their prey through the back, cats through the abdomen. ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2010, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-carnivores-particularly-scavengers-eat-a-kill/560554/10 "2010-11-13T22:54:47Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > I don’t know if it’s true, but an article in TIME years ago quoted a tracker saying that dogs eat their prey through the back, cats through the abdomen. Not that I’ve ever observed. If anything the opposite is true. Dogs lack the claws of cats, so they can’t readily kill by suffocating the animal and so often kill by disemboweling. Cats usually kill by biting the neck and if they do disembowel the prey they do so after it is dead. In fact the statement is kind of silly. Vertebrates have evolved to be defended from attacks from above. The back has the toughest layers of skin overlying layers bone. I can’t even imagine \*how \*an animal would eat it prey through the back. Was this “tracker” suggesting that dogs chew through the ribs and spinal column? I can’t even imagine how they could get a purchase on those bones from the back. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2010, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-carnivores-particularly-scavengers-eat-a-kill/560554/11 "2010-11-14T20:25:47Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > I don’t know if it’s true, but an article in TIME years ago quoted a tracker saying that dogs eat their prey through the back, cats through the abdomen. So there’s a “dog style” where their business is conducted from behind? ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2010, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-carnivores-particularly-scavengers-eat-a-kill/560554/12 "2010-11-14T20:36:40Z")
When they find bodies in the water, often they’re missing all sorts of tasty identifiable features, like lips and noses and fingertips. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2010, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-carnivores-particularly-scavengers-eat-a-kill/560554/13 "2010-11-14T21:11:28Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > When they find bodies in the water, often they’re missing all sorts of tasty identifiable features, like lips and noses and fingertips. Strangely, Oscar Mayer will not comment on the matter.