Your Opinion: Do zombies eat animals and insects?

[Thorn]

I have seen some recent and past posts where it has been said that the living dead have no interest in eating anything other than humans.

I have to doubt that based on a few things, first if the zombies are simply driven by subconscious "hunger" wouldn't they look towards any "food source" available to them?

A few matters of inconsistency here however.

In Night zombies/ghouls are clearly shown eating things other than humans.
In Day the zeds ignore an alligator as they spill out of a bank which would clearly be food to them as well.

So is it that there is some question as to if they have a subconscious hatred for humans that makes us their favorite "food" of choice?

(leaving the Dawn remake out of this because, as far as I am concerned it is a different animal)

[darth los]

I have seen some recent and past posts where it has been said that the living dead have no interest in eating anything other than humans.

I have to doubt that based on a few things, first if the zombies are simply driven by subconscious "hunger" wouldn't they look towards any "food source" available to them?

A few matters of inconsistency here however.

In Night zombies/ghouls are clearly shown eating things other than humans.
In Day the zeds ignore an alligator as they spill out of a bank which would clearly be food to them as well.

So is it that there is some question as to if they have a subconscious hatred for humans that makes us their favorite "food" of choice?

(leaving the Dawn remake out of this because, as far as I am concerned it is a different animal)


Well, as i've said before. Don't look for consistency from GAR'S films. The ghouls clearly eat animal such as insects and rodents in both the original and remake of night. You have a valid point i that if the hunger instinct drives something then any food source would serve as a means to satisfy that craving.

This brings up an interesting question. As you said why only humans? More importantly, why not each other? The ghouls are indeed, if not smater, more capable than what we give them credit for.

If you notice the bulk of the peole who get bit in GAR'S films because they were either careless or underestimated them. Many bites could have been avoided.



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[bassman]

Kind of like Darth said, I think it's different from film to film. As I don't see these films really being connected, there could be different rules for each of them.

[sandrock74]

Maybe its like the series Marvel Zombies. They stated on a few occassions that other zombies and animals just plain ol' didn't taste good.

I don't care how hungry I am, I'm not going to pick up a rock and eat it. Maybe zombies seen eating insects and such were only doing that out of curiosity as opposed to feeding their hunger.

[hadrian0117]

...In Night zombies/ghouls are clearly shown eating things other than humans.
In Day the zeds ignore an alligator as they spill out of a bank which would clearly be food to them as well...

My personal theory is that a zombie will try to eat anything warm-blooded. They aren't even able to perceive cold-blood animals (or they can't perceive a difference between cold-blooders and other zombies). Most wild animals will avoid humans anyway. Obviously birds can simply fly away. Most domestic pets would probally end up being eaten alive by their masters (for some reason I find this much more disturbing than family members eating eachother).

[Trencher]

My personal theory is that a zombie will try to eat anything warm-blooded. They aren't even able to perceive cold-blood animals (or they can't perceive a difference between cold-blooders and other zombies).

Very good theory.
I was going to post that the zombies in day had learned the hard way that alligators are not food because in day they were capebale of learning but your theroy is very good.

[Bub666]

I think zombies do eat bugs and insects,they did in NOTLD.

[sandrock74]

Animals are quicker than humans (thus WAY quicker than zombies) and the rest are too strong (can you imagine the comedy of a zombie trying to eat a bear??).

[Bub666]

can you imagine the comedy of a zombie trying to eat a bear??

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That would be freaking hilarious.

[acealive1]

i saw a zed eat a rat in NOTLD '90........and also they fought over it

[SRP76]

They feed on "warm flesh". This stays consistent from film to film.

They eat various things in Night. In the script for Dawn, there's a petshop in the mall (Adrian not included), and the zombies eat the animals in there.

And as far as the gator in Day goes, they really weren't in position to catch the thing in the first place, and they were entranced by the "living human" voice that was calling to them.

There was no need to show them trying to attack anything else in the other films.

[EvilNed]

They eat animals in some films, but not in others. In Night they ate animals. In Day, they didn't. Different films, different rules.

Personally, I prefer it when they don't eat animals. It makes them more of a anti-human that way.

[lullubelle]

It varies from movie to movie, like some of you mentioned in Night they do in Dawn they dont, but warm blood is warm blood so, even if it is a dog I think they would go for it, but as someone metion before, about the bear, animals have in my opinion a stronger sense of survival and will not take a chance, as humans at some point we get over confident and tend to become careless, that why I think zombies go for the humans, you know sort of easy pickings if you will....

[Andy]

The warm blooded theory is correct imo, it is logical and consistant throughout all the dead movies. In night Z's are seen eating insects and a mouse in the remake, in the original script for dawn there is a pet shop which the z's use as a restuarant and in day, the aligator is left alone as it is a cold blooded animal.

In my opinion, Z's are definatly attracted to warm blooded animals and humans only, they either cant see or arnt interested in cold blooded animals, which is why they do not attack each other either.

[EvilNed]

Are insects warmblooded?

[Andy]

As far as i know, reptiles are the only cold blooded animals, apart from fish.

[Debbieangel]

I see what everybody is saying warm blood is warm blood so, ya, they would probably "try" for animals like dogs, cats but, would they catch them?
You know animals can smell fear? well imo like someone had said most likely the owners would get their own dogs or cats but, could they? What I am trying to say is dog sense a difference in their owners moods, feelings, or whether they are sick.
I have experienced this, our dog always jumped up on me when he saw me I mean everytime. When I was sick he sensed something different about me and didnt jump he just sat down and left me pet him. When I got better he started jumping up on me again.
Don't you think your dog or cat would know the difference if you weren't you any longer?
My point the zombies would go hungry trying to grab their pets ,or try to get a dog or cat on the street.

[EvilNed]

I checked around, and insects are cold-blooded, which is why ants, for instance, build their stacks so that they'll get as much sun as possible, and the same with bees and their hives.

[sammylou]

Yeah I almost hold NOTLD to a different set of rules because at that point, Romero hadn't created any of his "rules" yet. He even admitted that he basically was trying to make an "I Am Legend" rip-off, thus the ghouls being terrified of light and are able to use basic tools such as rocks to smash glass and lights out. So the rules for NOTLD are very different, at least in my book.

[Trencher]

Cats and dogs would defently sense something wrong with their owners if they were zombies. They get worried if the owners are drunk.
However the pet in question might let the zombie get to it based on its own personality.

[MikePizzoff]

"They feed on warm flesh."

[Andy]

Yeah I almost hold NOTLD to a different set of rules because at that point, Romero hadn't created any of his "rules" yet. He even admitted that he basically was trying to make an "I Am Legend" rip-off, thus the ghouls being terrified of light and are able to use basic tools such as rocks to smash glass and lights out. So the rules for NOTLD are very different, at least in my book.
But you could argue that the rules for the following films are based on what is established in night.

[Thorn]

great points... hmmm I think I really like the idea of them eating warm blooded things, and maybe trying to eat things like insects when they are curious as to what it is or starving. Like how a shark will "mouth" something before eating it at times to see if it is food.

While this is not consistently shown in the films it does make sense based on what we have seen so far, and like Andy said Night set the stage and the lore after it all flows from it.

While Mr. Romero is inconsistent he could try to plug the holes in his own lore and we certainly can ;)

[darth los]

Yeah I almost hold NOTLD to a different set of rules because at that point, Romero hadn't created any of his "rules" yet. He even admitted that he basically was trying to make an "I Am Legend" rip-off, thus the ghouls being terrified of light and are able to use basic tools such as rocks to smash glass and lights out. So the rules for NOTLD are very different, at least in my book.


I don't think they were terrified of light so much as they were of fire. They seemed to be o.k. in the daylight. It didn't seem to affect them adversely. Now fire on the other hand....

My theory is just like the feeding instinct is driving them, the instinct to fear fire is also one of the basest ones and the same behavior can be found in almost every species in nature.



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[Trencher]

One idea I have about why Romeros zombies show so widely varied brain function is because just like brain damage in real life can have many forms and results so can the undead brain.

[EvilNed]

While Mr. Romero is inconsistent he could try to plug the holes in his own lore and we certainly can ;)

Considering Romero has never made the claim that they all follow the same "lore" (at least not that I'm aware off), I don't think he has too plug in any holes. There are no holes, no inconsistancies. There are only inconsistancies if you view them as Romero did not intend.

[Thorn]

Considering Romero has never made the claim that they all follow the same "lore" (at least not that I'm aware off), I don't think he has too plug in any holes. There are no holes, no inconsistancies. There are only inconsistancies if you view them as Romero did not intend.

I am not so sure about that, Romero in interviews has tied the movies together. He has refered to the mas trilogy, then series which implies they are linked. The titles follow a naming convention that shows a passing of time. Also if you read interviews he speaks of them as such and speaks of the "evolution" of the zombies from film one to film 4. You can not show path of evolution in films if they are not tied together.

one example...


"If you look at my other films, it begins at the end of 'Dawn.' The zombie drags a gun around for the whole movie and then at the very end grabs the hero’s gun and decides that’s better. He doesn’t even know it’s a gun. Then in 'Day of the Dead' there’s a zombie named Bub who actually shots the villain in the end. He’s this very sympathetic guy. It’s sort of following the same track. Now in this film when Big Daddy does it, there’s other zombies that come around and imitate the behavior. So all of a sudden, ooops, there’s a bunch of them out there."
Source: http://movies.about.com/od/landofthedead/a/deadgr062105.htm

Then here:

Ryan Rotten: When I spoke to Greg Nicotero he told me you guys were discussing the progress of zombie decay in Land of the Dead. Some of them will be farther along since this film picks up years later.
George Romero: We're going to show some of that, [in the film] people are still dying every day, so...
Source: http://www.moviesonline.ca/movienews_1216.html

So it seems to me anyway there is a definitive link between all four films, and that this is intended by Mr. Romero.

[DjfunkmasterG]

Well Night started it all, so I am going with they eat anything. In Day, I assume they left the alligator alone out of instinct, maybe they tried getting him and he killed off one of their comrades, so they learned not to **** with the alligators.

[darth los]

Well Night started it all, so I am going with they eat anything. In Day, I assume they left the alligator alone out of instinct, maybe they tried getting him and he killed off one of their comrades, so they learned not to **** with the alligators.

I agree. Both the original and remake show it so it's a consistent theme he stuck with for those films. Just another one of the touches Gar implements to highlight the difference between the ghouls from film to film.



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