Was reading and thinking about this today. A lot of people especially proponents of veganism etc make claims that many/most animals don’t eat meat and its unnatural etc. The reality is that almost all animals eat other animals. My main point is that so called “herbivores” like cows, deer, horses, etc actually eat a fair number of bugs (one study said they can eat as many as 50 grasshoppers per day) while theyre eating grass, and they also eat their own placentas after birth. So while they mainly eat grass for sustenance, they are in fact opportunistic omnivores. They may or may not hunt out animals, but naturally receive nourishment from bugs and will eat meat if its available like their placentas as mentioned, and google also says **“Some cows have been spotted on video occasionally consuming live animals like snakes, rodents, or birds, usually prompted by nutritional deficiencies.”
Pandas**, sloths and koalas are listed as some of the closest things to absolute herbivores, but again google also says that they incidentally eat bugs as they are eating leaves.
Yes, pandas and sloths do incidentally eat bugs, as they are opportunistic foragers.
Yes, koalas do incidentally eat bugs. Because they spend their entire lives in the branches and eat leaves directly off the trees, small insects like psyllids (lerps), caterpillars, and aphids that live on the foliage are often swallowed by mistake along with their leafy meals. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
The only thing I’ve seen listed as a true herbivore are aphids, which are tiny insects which feed on plant juices, but now were getting into microscopic insects which, then arguably we could argue that they probably do ingest microscopic organisms incidentally while feeding etc…i know it sounds a bit silly to say, but they are verging on being microscopic… and at that point there really aren’t many other living beings they could feed on, so considering the order of magnitude between humans-to-aphids… and aphids-to-microscopic-organisms, it makes sense to consider microscopic organisms “meat” for them at that point.
thanks man, just want to clarify, i dont have problems with veganism. If people want to do it thats great and im sure its possible to be healthy. humans are intelligent and maybe pure veganism is kind of just more of a human thing, but yea does seem a lot of animals classed as herbivores arent pure herbivores.
I think it’s more about choice. Herbivores don’t intentionally eat other animals to live. Humans choose to eat animal products. We could choose not to kill animals but we do. I’m not defending vegans but that is their thinking.
I think that most important segment of veganism seems to be the claim that speciesism is taking place when we either farm or hunt or fish to kill another species, another animal.
I disagree with this. I think that if I were to pick a mollusk up on a beach crack it open and eat it. I am not engaging with any differently than another animal would.
fair enough, yea again this wasnt meant to be a lampoon against veganism or something haha just i was thinking about it that grass must have a ton of insects in it and did a bit of googling… i find it realy interesting because those animals vegan or not or whatever, probably wouldnt be as healthy or abundant as they are without incidentally eating insects… purposeful or not, it is a part of their diet and is keeping the species alive and well. Saw one study said some cows ate as many as 50 grasshoppers a day which is insane.
Good point tho… i actually support veganism in some ways..i commend it for sure to want to stop animal suffering… many famous people i look up to were vegetarians etc. I respect it for sure… its just interesting
lmao well whats worse, ive seen people on social media who ate their own placentas and recommend it for pregnant women so… i guess theyre the worst off of the bunch
i feel sick
Im a vegetarian… it’s impossible to not eat something without hurting something. I mean in the religion I was brought up with, we are not allowed to eat potatoes even cos when you pull it out from the root it kills a lot of bugs. I have a feeling everything has life and hurts but im not a scientist its just my theory and opinion.
Humans need protein to live which is why we are classified as omnivores. But vegans can argue that it is possible to survive without eating meat and obtain protein without killing animals. I’ve met many lifelong vegetarians but no vegans who are vegan successfully long term.
wow i see, i respect that so much tho.. caring for everything. i heard a quote once that was like “you can never be too gentle”. i agree with that… But yea this whole thing, just gave me a new perspective kinda. Even tho im a meat eater, ive always kinda looked down upon meat eating as kinda bad. Now i kinda see it as more of a circle of life… every animal has to go at some point… idk every animal cows etc eat other animals etc so… idk im still wrestling with the idea but one things for sure, i have a new opinion on meat eating.
theres this one woman on youtube… jesus she looks about 30 years old and shes like 70… no word of a lie! it seems like anacdotal nonsense but let me see if i can find her
I had a nice fat juicy steak 3 days ago. So did wife(although she didnt eat it all). Expensive as hell. If we were feeding six at that price we could make a car payment. Its a rarity for us.
I don’t feel eating meat is unnatural. But I have some views on it. I mean we put ourselves up the food chain, and I failed that answer in an exam but I don’t think we are. I mean put yourself in a sea of sharks.
just i was thinking about it that grass must have a ton of insects in it and did a bit of googling… i find it realy interesting because those animals vegan or not or whatever, probably wouldnt be as healthy or abundant as they are without incidentally eating insects… purposeful or not, it is a part of their diet and is keeping the species alive and well. Saw one study said some cows ate as many as 50 grasshoppers a day which is insane.
