Inquiring Minds wanta know

[olevetonahill]

Anyone got a clue why the Scavengers of the earth will eat just about any DEAD thing on the road , But never touch a dead dog?

Ive seen Puke buzzards , crows and all other manner of scavenger eating dead skunks , possums, coons .you name it they eat it .
But will never touch a dead dog .

Why that is ?

[Harry Beanbag]

I don't know.

[olevetonahill]

I don't know.

Thanks fer all yer help !:P

[Crucifax Autumn]

They aren't vietnamese?

[C&CDean]

Same thing for coyotes. Eventually, the ants and flies and stuff take care of them, but I've shot coyotes in the pasture and left them lay for weeks without nary a buzzard or anything else on them.

What's also interesting is that I've shot crows, and within an hour, other crows are eating the **** outta the dead one. Nasty-assed birds.

[Tulsa_Fireman]

Crows are the sexual predators of the animal kingdom.

[olevetonahill]

Same thing for coyotes. Eventually, the ants and flies and stuff take care of them, but I've shot coyotes in the pasture and left them lay for weeks without nary a buzzard or anything else on them.

What's also interesting is that I've shot crows, and within an hour, other crows are eating the **** outta the dead one. Nasty-assed birds.

Yea they wont touch a member of the Canine family.
I hate crows they are one of the smartest ****in birds out there in the wild
Nasty but smart

[NormanPride]

Maybe they taste bad?

[proud gonzo]

I thought that usually carnivores/scavengers don't eat other carnivores.

[Boomer Mooner]

In the late 90's they had a bad coyote overpopulation problem in South Texas. During that time I saw a coyote eating on dead coyote beside the road close to Freer, TX.

[delhalew]

Pretty ****ing good question.

[Okla-homey]

<in Cliff Clavin voice> Everyone knows why that is Sam. You see, your basic canine-type animal is a sneak-hunter. Meaning of course they use stealth to approach their prey. The buzzards don't go after dead canines because about a jillion years of genetics has programmed any desire to eat a canine that may be sleeping out of buzzards out of the realistic fear said canine could be faking, or "playing possum" in order to snag the bird. Its Darwinian. And stuff.<end Cliff Clavin voice>

[btk108]

Vet..you thinkin about cooking supper?

[King Barry's Back]

This reminds me so much of the first time I heard Rush Limbaugh on the radio.

The year was about 1991, and I was eastbound on I-40 out of OKC towards my home town. Drove just past Tinker while Rush was on.

Topic of the show, for some reason, was making chili from wild game -- I guess to save money or something.

And some wack job from Arizona or NM called in and started blabbing about how the chili he loved best he made from dog or cat meat. He stated that he got his from euthanized animals at the local shelter, and that the friendly shelter staff was glad to have something useful to do with the meat. (Rush finally had to hang up on the guy.)

Good God. I just realized I have remembered that for 20 years. That's absolute proof I have no life.

But I wonder if Scavengers of the earth would eat that chili?

[Fraggle145]

Carnivores dont tend to have much fat, and they probably have harder bones.

So my first guess are scavengers are lazy... and there is plenty of other dead **** around out here.

[olevetonahill]

Carnivores dont tend to have much fat, and they probably have harder bones.

So my first guess are scavengers are lazy... and there is plenty of other dead **** around out here.

I aint Buying that shat !

Seen em eat shat on the side of the road was nuthin more than a greasy spot .
Try again Posse nerd LIb bastage !;)

[Zbird]

There was a story some old boy told in one of the Firefox books about this old hound who found an old bag of fertilizer made from fish parts. It smelled bad so the old hound broke the bag open and rolled around it for a while like dogs will do, then he laid down on the bag and went to sleep. The old farmer was taking a nap under the tree and saw this old buzzard flying those lazy loops and getting lower and lower. The farmer leaned up on one elbow to see what the buzzard was after. The buzzard landed a ways off from the dog and slowly circled the dog looking him over carefully. Then he casually walked up and took a peck at the dogs rear. The old dog jumped up, and the buzzard flapped his wings hard and took off. The old farmer laughed and thought the buzzard sure had to be surprised that anything that smelled that bad wasn't dead.

[Collier11]

Ask SJS, I hear he never wastes a potential meal...too many mouths to feed

[Chuck Bao]

I think that Homey's answer is the best so far. It probably is something genetic. If there is one dead canine, there surely would be more around. Do we have other carnivores that hunt in packs? I mean in North American and on land and in Oklahoma and excluding humans.

I don't think it is scavenger on scavenger thing because some of the birds seem to really like cat.

It is a very interesting question. I have to admit that I do not remember seeing many canine corpses or would wonder if it were eatable by scavengers.

I do remember my dad getting me up early to go hunting coyotes before he'd take me to kindergarten school. I remember the coyote ears that he'd cut off and put in a plastic bag to claim his bounty. From that distant memory, it seems that the coyotes are making a come back. During my time back home, they seem like a really noisy bunch.

By the way, dog meat tastes pretty good, in my opinion.

[olevetonahill]

I agree Chuck , Ive et dog and it aint bad atall :pop:

[Scott D]

I thought that usually carnivores/scavengers don't eat other carnivores.

this.