Can they die of starvation? In Gars movies...

[MissJacksonCA]

I was just wondering if zombies can die from starvation? It would make sense that if they have the need to feed that similarly they can suffer the consequence of starvation...

In Dawn we can see in the parking lot several dead zombies but whether they were killed by a passer-by or hunger remains unknown (at least far as I can tell)...

In 28 Days later we see starving and dying zombies and we know Mailer served the purpose of telling the soldiers how long it takes for one of them to die of natural causes... but I'm thinking in terms of the GAR zombie world...

And how long d'ya figure it would take for them to die?

[rightwing401]

Never. Logan made it very clear in Day.

"It wants me. It wants food. But it has no stomach, can take no nourishment from what it ingests. It's working on instinct. A deep, dark, primordial instinct."

[Cody]

they die from rot. which here in florida its cool cuz id have to wait less time to go out and play since the humidity would rot them to the core


OH YEAH BABY

[MissJacksonCA]

Hey that rot thing actually makes sense... save for ... I doubt that the humidity would kill them faster here in the south... if anything I would imagine their lifespan would be longer because of how humid it is ... like old people in Florida live longer than they do elsewheres...

It would be neat to see frozen zombies in the north during winter though...

[Cody]

zombies in alaska would take so long to die, or they would just freeze. the only reason why old people last so long in "gods waiting room" state is because they have so much of there own kind to tell war stories to and such

[MissJacksonCA]

or maybe its just because they dont have to work... sometimes when i worked a job i hated id rather jam a fork in my eye than have to be there... or perhaps they just really enjoy bocci ball...

[Slain]

One of the hallmarks of zombie fiction is that an outbreak spreads so rapidly scientists don't have time to study the zombie-causing organism, much less find an effective counter measure for it. A hard science-fiction writer doing a story about zombies would probably have the creatures being animated, and maintained by some off world or artificial organism that operates like nothing the world has ever seen before (like the Andromeda Strain or a nano-organism made in a lab).

As for zombie longevity, I'm sure the living to undead would ratio would balance out over time (if the zombies had a finite lifespan) with the numbers of the zombies decreasing to a low, but still dangerous level as the occasional person got infected and turned into one.

[Tricky]

How long would it take to get to the point where they couldnt move because the muscle & tendons had rotted through?

[EvilNed]

Hotter climates would make for quicker rotting. In warm countries you bury the dead instantly because the warm climate can really do a number on them. Up here in Sweden, a funeral usually takes place a few weeks, maybe a month, after the date of death.

[jim102016]

Come on, MJ, those infected people in 28 Days aren't 'zombies'! Getting a drop in the eye and going crazy is far from dying and then coming back as a walking corpse! But, good topic.

I don't believe 'zombies' could starve, as they're not alive in the traditional sense. You'd just have to wait for them to rot away. Different climates would add to that process, especially severe heat and cold.

They died in 28 Days because they weren't 'zombies' but real people who were infected with a disease. They still had to eat to survive, as opposed to GAR's world where they ate out of some sort of a non-nutritional desire.

Personally, I think I'd rather be in a cold climate. The cold would surely slow them down, and you could roam around relatively free in order to kill any in your vacinity. I spent too much time in the deep south of the U.S., don't think I'd want to deal with the dead down there.

[Tricky]

It would get to a point where only the "freshers" posed any kind of threat once the early hordes started to rot down

[clanglee]

Yeah but what about a batch of zombies chilling out in a peat bog? What then? Naturally preserved zombies with no real shelf life. Would they then be considered mummies? hmmmmm:confused:

[Yojimbo]

On then subject of rotting flesh, we can only guess at what rate ghouls actually decompose. Though they do not eat to survive, they are in fact "alive" in some sense, and in that regard perhaps they would not rot at the same rate as a "regular" dead corpse would.

Surely the environmental factors, as pointed out by several posters, would have an effect on the rate at which a "regular" corpse would decompose, however I seem to recall Dr. Frankenstein mentioning that decomposition slows after revival (though I cannot swear to the exact wording). As to how much revival would affect the rate of decomposition, we can only speculate, and not being a real world phenomenon, we would never know for sure.

[Philly_SWAT]

It would get to a point where only the "freshers" posed any kind of threat once the early hordes started to rot down

I dont think it would be outrageous to assume that whatever force exists to re-animate the dead to being with could also slow done the natural rotting process, therefore, I think the dead could "survive" alot longer than regular dead (seems kind of rediculous to say, but hopefully you see my point).

[AcesandEights]

I dont think it would be outrageous to assume that whatever force exists to re-animate the dead to being with could also slow done the natural rotting process, therefore, I think the dead could "survive" alot longer than regular dead (seems kind of rediculous to say, but hopefully you see my point).

And such has been backed up, as has already been mentioned, by the feverish and perhaps questionable observations of Dr. Logan.

There has been a lot of talk about whether of lack of feeding has an effect on the walking dead. Some think that the flesh keeps them fresher and other postulate that the eating may effect the pathos or intellectual capability of the dead. There is little, to my mind, that backs up either of these possibilities, but it's fun to pick at a few aspects of the different films that may back them up.

[jka12002]

Zombies will never starve to death, they may get full but never starve to death.

[LoneCrusader]

They can't get full. They'd eat forever, if they could.

[Philly_SWAT]

They can't get full. They'd eat forever, if they could.

LoneCrusader, I like how you are bringing 2 year old topics back to the top of the list. Makes what was old, new again. Three quick comments...

To the original post...I agree with rightwing401 who said "Never. Logan made it very clear in Day.

"It wants me. It wants food. But it has no stomach, can take no nourishment from what it ingests. It's working on instinct. A deep, dark, primordial instinct."

I also agree with jim102016 who said "Come on, MJ, those infected people in 28 Days aren't 'zombies'! Getting a drop in the eye and going crazy is far from dying and then coming back as a walking corpse! But, good topic.

Finally, to your comment LoneCrusader that " They can't get full. They'd eat forever, if they could." I think it would be more accurate to say they would never stop attempting to eat. While nothing would stop them from ripping flesh with their teeth, and ripping out intestines with hands, at some point, their stomachs would be literally full, and they literally could not get any more food in there. Unless something about making the dead come back to life makes stomach acid super fast acting, breaking down food almost immediately, which brings to mind the concept of piss and shit constantly seeping from the bodies of the undead.

[LoneCrusader]

i'm about 78% sure you were being sarcastic about liking how i bring back old topics. i don't see why it matters. if a thread is interesting enough, i don't see why it should just rot a few pages back when the discussion can easily continue.


and that's an interesting point you made about the piss and shit and stuff. i guess it would just kinda start seeping out of their stomach. or it would just kinda bust it open, like a balloon.

[Philly_SWAT]

i'm about 78% sure you were being sarcastic about liking how i bring back old topics. You would be 100% wrong then! :) (Or would you be 78% wrong? I'm 69% sure I dont know what the percentage would be .....)
A big clue would be if I DIDNT like you bringing back old topics, chances are I wouldnt reply to them, and especially wouldnt go to the trouble of replying to 3 comments in them.


and that's an interesting point you made about the piss and shit and stuff. i guess it would just kinda start seeping out of their stomach. or it would just kinda bust it open, like a balloon.No I dont think so. What I meant was that once the stomach was full, no more could enter. If you and I were to keep eating until our stomachs were literally full, and then ate more, I am pretty sure we would vomit. I think a zed would either vomit, or if zeds dont vomit, then their esophagus would be full, up to the back of their throat, and literally food would have no where to go except to fall out of the mouth.

[LoneCrusader]

i don't think they can throw up.

and, yeah, i was thinking that, that they'd just get full to the point that they can't even put food in their mouth. but i think their stomachs would sooner just rip open and the food would just seep out of them..

[Philly_SWAT]

i don't think they can throw up.

and, yeah, i was thinking that, that they'd just get full to the point that they can't even put food in their mouth. but i think their stomachs would sooner just rip open and the food would just seep out of them..

This is indeed possible, but unless they were shoving food down their throat with great force, like how they pack stuff in cannons with a big pole, I dont think enough pressure would exist to rip the stomach open. Even if so, we see in Day that they would continue to try to feed even if they didnt even have a stomach.

[sandrock74]

Zombies would eat like dogs. They would just gorge themselves until their stomach burst, and then keep eating. It would obviously be gross but it would also work to incapacitate the zombie. They probably wouldn't be too mobile if their stomach burst.

It was also pointed out (I think in Dawn), how zombies only eat something like 10% of the available meat on their victims. Is that due to the victim reanimating and getting up and walking away? Or are zombies just slow eaters?

Something else to think about. Weather and elements would play a BIG factor in a zombies decomposition rate, but so would insects and various scavenger animals, like rodents. I think that packs of zombies would be constantly surrounded by hoardes of stuff trying to eat them! I also think that these types of animals would become more aggressive in procuring its own "food" and not be easily frightened off by shuffling zombies.

What do you all think?

[MoonSylver]

It was also pointed out (I think in Dawn), how zombies only eat something like 10% of the available meat on their victims. Is that due to the victim reanimating and getting up and walking away? Or are zombies just slow eaters?

I always figured BOTH.


Something else to think about. Weather and elements would play a BIG factor in a zombies decomposition rate, but so would insects and various scavenger animals, like rodents. I think that packs of zombies would be constantly surrounded by hoardes of stuff trying to eat them! I also think that these types of animals would become more aggressive in procuring its own "food" and not be easily frightened off by shuffling zombies.

I always thought that maybe whatever the process is that reanimated them has done something to them to render them "unpalatable" to maggots & such.

[sandrock74]

I always thought that maybe whatever the process is that reanimated them has done something to them to render them "unpalatable" to maggots & such.

I always chalked it up to that being impossible to film back then. LOL!

Still, you have a valid point. That could be an explanation why we don't see any of that. I always figured that zombies would stink up to high heaven too, but it was never really addressed until Land rolled around. I would think that a zombie would have a hard time sneaking up on anyone, because their stench would give them away before they showed up. Especially a horde of them!

Phew!

[MikePizzoff]

People need to stop calling the rage-infected living humans from 28 Days Later zombies!!!

[sandrock74]

People need to stop calling the rage-infected living humans from 28 Days Later zombies!!!

Amen brother. I fully agree!

[bassman]

I think they just eat because they're depressed and bored. That's my theory...

[MikePizzoff]

I think they just eat because they're depressed and bored. That's my theory...

"I loooove chocolate... but I can't eat it cause it makes me fat."

[sandrock74]

Maybe you guys have a point. Zombies must be enrolled into Overeaters Anonymous! Only by talking (or grunting) publicly about their issues of boredom and depression, can they hope to overcome their constant "need" to feed.

"My name is Bub and I over eat."