#deer are omnivores

[aries-007]

Absolutely. Deer are the literal worst.

[blondieart]

Biiiiig eepy stretch... 🦌💤 Geeeewd night.

[kittenmoth]

Also if anyone has any suggestions for their faves feel free to drop em, I'd love to have some ideas for the other characters! They don't have to be limited to just one animal either, hybrids are accepted. It is ATLA after all!

[bywandandsword]

WHO NEEDS CRYPTIDS WHEN REGULAR UNGULATES EXIST??

I HATE THIS

[therandomtoad]

I fuckin hate deer. Kill them. Keep the population low and in control.

[noxcorvorum]

Breaking news of no surprise to anybody: cervine in my brain

[snommelp]

There was a poll going around like a couple of weeks ago that was something like "when's the last time you saw a wild animal (feral cats don't count)" and I was like "the local deer have made my yard a nursery, but also there are songbirds and squirrels, what's the exact threshold we're working with here?"

So here's a poll about the "wildest" animal you've seen in the past week; choose the highest in the list that applies in this arbitrary heirarchy

[aplpaca]

I know I put this on the tags of that "horses will eat meat and eggs" post but like if that's all it takes for people to get freaked out and think horses are deranged then they should also be aware that almost all other herbivores do the exact same thing. It's actually seems to be way less common for herbivores to eat 100% only plants than it is for them to eat meat occasionally (koalas are one of the suspected few strict herbivores bc their diet and digestive system is so specialized). They don't go out searching/hunting for it like carnivores and omnivores, but if they stumble across some carrion or some eggs (or some particularly easy live meat), that's fair game, even moreso if other food is scarce.

Like,,,,Deer will eat dead fish and rabbits, and have been recorded eating dead deer also. They've also been recorded eating live hatchlings from bird nests. Rabbits will scavenge birds a lot, and also do scavenging cannibalism. Snowshoe hares have been recorded scavenging a lynx, which is ironically their main predator when alive. Elephants will eat fish. Cows will eat live birds just right of the ground, along with eggs they may find.

Horses aren't deranged bc they'll eat meat, they're deranged bc theyre like if you put the ghost of a psychically-sensitive victorian child into the body of a 1500 pound mammal.

[feralrarity]

Random take no one ask for: being vegan is by no means more ethical than sustainable farming/hunting but a lot of the time it can be a good median of sustainability and more affordable for low income households like mine.

Being vegan for me is foraging wild garlic and mustang grapes and dandelions which I can all find right outside the suburbs in wooded road medians. It's buying rice and beans and various home grown veggies and eating well while not sacrificing extra $ for protein and iron.

I feel like a lot of the time veganism removes humanity from the food chain when taken to extremes but really it's the best thing I can do for my family when the price of un-tortured chicken eggs are that high.

[boopjuice]

Humans are Space Orcs: Melons.

Okay, hear me out. Humans are omnivores, and this is widely known throughout the greater Galactic Alliance. They have insane tolerance to things most would consider poison, and can eat just about anything deemed nonlethal by most other races (there are, of course, some exceptions).

Anyway, there's no need to wait for an animal to be ready to eat. Sure, a deer that's too young or too old won't have as much nutrition, but there's nothing stopping you from eating it. Fruits and vegetables have to grow and ripen before humans can eat them, and are often determined ripe based on color and size.

Now imagine, if you will, an alien crew visiting their human's home in Earth during the summer. Some of them are drastically overheated and have to stay in the ship, while the more heat tolerant species are out and about with the human at a grocery store.

"Human- I mean, Sarah, your parent mentioned requiring a 'watered melon's for the third meal, yes?"

"Watermelon, Chi'l'zak, but yeah, Dad did ask me to pick some up. Why?"

"Well, there appear to be some over there to choose from."

"Oh, nice spot! Let's see here..."

And the alien's watch in as their human picks up the biggest melon in the pile and observes it for a moment, presumably checking the color, only to smack the large fruit, frown, and set it back down.

"Hu- Sarah, why did you put down the fruit?"

"It's just not quite ready yet." The human picks up another melon, smacks this one a few times, and sets it down.

"But I thought these 'grocery stores' only sold ripe foods?"

"Well, everything here is technically ripe, but that doesn't always mean it's ready. I mean, the avocados they sell are ripe, but they aren't usually ready to eat. They don't taste as good, or they're too hard. You just have to know how to pick your produce. Ah, here we go!" A few smacks to a new melon, and Sarah looks pleased. The melon doesn't appear any different from the others.

"How are you certain that one is the best? It is colored the same as the other fruits, and is smaller than some. Surely this fruit isn't ready, as you said."

"Of course it is, Chi'l'zak. Here, listen."

Sarah smacks the watermelon they'd picked out a couple times, then smacked the first melon they'd picked up. "See? They sound different. That's how you know this one's good."

"But Human Sarah, those sounded exactly the same."

"No they didn't."

"Well, how were they different then?"

"I dunno. They just don't sound the same."

They ended up bringing home the ready and unready melons to display the difference. Anthropological notes were updated that night in the ship's log.

"Ripeness of human fruits: Some fruits on the human Mother Planet can be identified as 'ready to eat' by sound. The preferred method seems to be to smack the fruit known as 'melon' with an open appendage and listen. While most of the team were able to notice any significance between a ready and unready melons, human participants were able to easily distinguish ready from unready melons and select accordingly."

[sugarcoatednightshade]

Humans are space orcs/Earth is a deathworld concept I haven’t seen brought up yet:

On earth, there is no such thing as a true herbivore. As far as I know, every animal will eat meat if given the chance. Hares have been known to scavenge dead animal carcasses in the winter, when food is scarce. Wild sheep and deer will eat grouse and seabird chicks to supplement their diet. A couple years ago there were videos going around of horses eating live birds. I won’t link it, but you can look it up on youtube if you want.

The point is, every animal on earth is an omnivore if they’re hungry enough or lacking certain minerals in their diet. Even if they aren’t built for it, herbivores will eat meat to survive.

I wonder if that makes us unique. Imagine an alien race invading earth, only to be horrified by what they find. Mice killing and eating their own young. Domesticated cows eating carrion. Seemingly docile species becoming engulfed in bloodlust. I wonder if this is the reason earth was written off as a deathworld, because everything on it is able and willing to eat other animals alive.

[lena-the-anarchist]

People who feel the need to morally grandstand over being vegan piss me off so much, being condescending is one of the worst ways to convince someone of something and its just so transparent that what they're there for is to make themselves feel morally righteous and superior, not to convince someone of something they believe in.

Are you vegan and if not how come

maybe don't suggest that a person with an eating disorder that gave them a heart murmur, chronic anemia, a 103 degree fever that lasted for nine months and amenorrhea should undertake a restrictive diet

[bumblebeeappletree]

Every once in a while I’ll see some posts about everyone should become vegan in order to help the environment. And that… sounds kinda rude. I’m sure they don’t mean to come off that way but like, humans are omnivores. Yes there are people who won’t have any animal products be it meat or otherwise either due to personal beliefs or because their body physically cannot handle it, and that’s okay! You don’t have to change your diet to include those products if you don’t want to or you physically can’t.

But there’s indigenous communities that hunt and farm animals sustainably and have been doing so for generations. And these animals are a primary source of food for them. Look to the bison of North America. The settlers nearly caused an extinction as a part of a genocide. Because once the Bison were gone it caused an even sharper decline of the indigenous population. Now thankfully Bison did not go extinct and are actively being shared with other groups across America.

Now if we look outside of indigenous communities we have people who are doing sustainable farming as well as hunting. We have hunting seasons for a reason, mostly because we killed a lot of the predators. As any hunter and they will tell you how bad the deer population can get. (Also America has this whole thing about bird feathers and bird hunting, like it was bad until they laid down some laws. People went absolutely nuts on having feathers be a part of fashion like holy cow.)

We’re slowly getting better with having gardens and vertical farms within cities, and there’s some laws on being able to have a chicken or two at your house or what-have-you in the city for some eggs. (Or maybe some quails since they’re smaller than chickens it’s something that you’d might have to check in your area.) Maybe you would be able to raise some honey bees or rent them out because each honey tastes different from different plants. But ultimately when it comes to meat or cheese? Go to your local farmers. Go to farmers markets, meet with the people there, become friends, go actively check out their farm. See how the animal lives are and if the farmer is willing, talk to them about sustainable agriculture. See what they can change if they’re willing. Support indigenous communities and buy their food and products, especially if you’re close enough that the food won’t spoil on its way to you. (Like imagine living in Texas and you want whale meat from Alaska and you buy it from an indigenous community. I would imagine that would be pretty hard to get.)

Either way everything dies in the end. Do we shame scavengers for eating corpses they found before it could rot and spread disease? Do we shame the animals that hunt other animals to survive? Yes factory farming should no longer exist. So let’s give the animals the best life we can give them. If there’s babies born that the farmer doesn’t want, give them away to someone who wants them as a pet. Or someone who wants to raise them for something else. Not everyone can raise animals for their meat. I know I can’t I would get to emotionally attached. I’d only be able to raise them for their eggs and milk.

Yeah this was pretty much thrown together, and I just wanted to say my thoughts and throw them into the void. If you have some examples of sustainable farming/agriculture, please share them because while I got some stuff I posted from YouTube, I’m still interested to see what stuff I might’ve missed!

[fallingsatellive]

Hi this is a positivity post regarding alterhuman diet dysphoria versus actual biology

(unless you already know these things)

To herbivore nonhumans who don't want to/can't do a vegan or vegetarian diet but feel dysphoric about being able to digest meat:

Herbivorous animals are not unable to digest meat.

Animal matter is actually easier for a body to process than plant matter, and herbivorous species need very complex digestive systems in order to support their lifestyles. This is why cows have four stomachs; why horses practically go into critical system failure if they get even a little bit sick. Animals that live mostly by grazing actually still do need nutrients that carnivores and omnivores get through their natural diets, which is why farming supply stores sell salt licks for animals. In the wild herbivores will quite often find ways to sneak some meat into their diets by eating bugs or small vertebrates, if you didn't already know about the fun fact of deer eating baby birds. "Obligate herbivore" meaning an animal that can ONLY physically digest plants is not a real ecological term the way "obligate carnivore" meaning animal that can ONLY physically digest meat is, though you might see it in other usages (i.e., referring to an animal that relies on a plant-based diet for all of its nutrients).

If a wild deer was given access to human society, they would probably not opt for veganism for connection with their true species; they would more likely appreciate having a way to get sodium so easily. This isn't to shame anyone who does choose a vegan/vegetarian diet for species euphoria reasons, but more to reassure folks who can't, you aren't less of an herbivore.

To carnivore nonhumans who feel dysphoric that their body can't digest raw meat like wild carnivores can:

It can!

The reason you don't want to be eating raw meat like a wolf or stoat or monitor lizard is because you will get sick or you will contract a parasite, which might sound like just a different reason to feel disconnected from your species, but here's the main two things:

1. The actuality is that wild wolves and stoats and monitor lizards DO get sick and contract parasites. This is often how wolves and stoats and monitor lizards die in the wild and why ones in captivity, being fed parasite-free meat and having illnesses treated, live longer. There are raw meats you can eat safely, you just have to know where they're sourced from and that they're guaranteed not to have risks! That's why sushi is a thing, and why people say you can technically eat raw cut (not ground) beef but not pork or chicken. Cooked meat is also often tastier and easier for the body to process (cit.: Grug et al. 780,000 BCE) so that's why humans have loved their medium-well steak since they came up with it. And 2. wild predators are "able to eat raw meat" mostly because they killed it, so it's fresh and hasn't been sitting around able to pick up bacteria, the way raw meat you get at a grocery store would have. This is why a lot of prey animals have a "play dead" defense mechanism: most predators do not want to eat something that's already dead, because it might get them sick.

If a wild owl was given access to human society, they would probably not desire only the rawest of meats for connection with their true species; they would more likely appreciate having access to food that had all the pathogens cleaned and/or scorched out of it.

[lookinghalfacorpse]

human bodies and the many ways that they're weird. a guide by technoblade.

/dsmp /rp

dream and philza have flat faces, and little noses that don't connect to their upper lip at all. they have round, stunted ears on the sides of their heads, and teeth that are barely sharper than a deer's. they're omnivores, like we are, but we're much better at bitin' than them. they have no tusks and no claws. they look a bit like furless piglets, but they're kinda alien-lookin', too. their feet are flat and skinny.

dream and philza have thin, pink lips. they're plush and warm, and more expressive than piglin lips. phil chews his when he's focusing, and dream's will twitch when he's annoyed. humans see something romantic about lips. they use them to kiss, and even touching them with your hands is seen as intimate. they'll touch their lips to my snout or my hands or my forehead, and i know it's a big deal to them.

dream and philza are upright, bipedal, and have musculature like a piglin, but they're small and hairless. mostly. dream has a mop of course fur (he calls it hair) on his head, and phil's is straight, golden, and silky. there are little tufts of fur above their eyes, too, and on some other spots across their bodies. a light covering on the legs. between their size and their nakedness, they're always pretty cold. i used to ask phil all the time if he wanted to move to a warmer climate, but he never did. he doesn't mind wearing layers. they both feel safer in layers, i think. that's my running theory, anyway. if i were that small, i'd probably like it, too.

dream and philza have long, elegant eyelashes. piglins like those, too. pretty common sign of beauty in most species, i think. human eyes have a broad color range, and theirs are particularly bright. phil's eyes are icy, haunting blue. dream's are a deep, wild green. i've never seen colors like that before coming to the overworld. the sky, the sea, the forest.

dream and philza are way too small, way too delicate. i'll cup dream's face in my hand and know i could break his jaw if i squeeze too hard. i'll rub phil's sore shoulder and sometimes just hurt him more. they'll crawl on me when i'm in bed and they weigh less than some of the dogs, and if a limb gets caught under me when i roll over, they'll yelp.

there's a spot at the base of dream's neck that, if i nibble at it with my front teeth, he'll squirm and push against me and make all sorts of cute sounds. most of phil's feathers are sensitive, but you can be rough with the soft ones near the base of his wings, and his eyes will flutter closed. they both like when i run my fingers through their fur hair.

i imagine fairies are a bit like this, honestly. recognizably beautiful, but tiny and a little... off. bright and vivid; a creation of this colorful world they're from. two little fairyfolk who decided to love a beast like me.

[papermonkeyism]

Thisssssss!

Like, it's a pet peeve of mine when people go and be like, oh, it's a herbivore, so it's kind and gentle and harmless and dull, because "herbivore=vegetarian" so it won't want to eat you (ha!), and only carnivores are allowed to be awesome. And like, in domesticated species like cattle or sheep we spent tens of thousands of years selectively breeding them specifically to be nice to humans just so keeping them would be even possible, and they're still capable of maiming us if they so choose (cattle can murder you just by accident, and some of them will even do so willingly).

You really think wild animals like deer and stuff are out there selectively breeding themselves to be as easy for predators to eat as possible? You do know that's kinda the exact opposite of how natural selection works, right?

Anyway, seriously, if youre writing a book and including actual real animals in it, even if it is a fantasy setting, researching the animal you're writing about is warmly recommended.

Reading the last book in the Icewind Dale trilogy, about halfway through the book. Okay, I can shrug off random dragon cameos that have no relevance to anything in the story, the flat characterization and the flimsy worldbuilding, but my suspension of disbelief just got overloaded and snapped by a camel.

The protagonist party are in the stereotypical fantasy south (tm) and have bought camels to proceed on their journey, and one of them gets bitten by his dromedary to show what a nuisance the animal is, and the book describes it as having "blunt teeth", and boy my brain ain't taking it.

Like, excuse the entire fuck out of me, have you SEEN dromedary teeth??? Those things have FANGS! And they are VICIOUS!

I'm just flashbacking to the news many years ago when a dromedary killed a wild ass stallion in the Helsinki zoo, that's not a harmless little nuisance, that's a huge arse beast fully capable of maiming you.

Seriously, google dromedary skull and marvel at their weaponry, that's such a great design.

"Blunt teeht" my arse...