Endless Supplies of Gas and Other Nitpicks: It Doesn't Make Sense

[CletusMusashi]

Even if Daryl could get a deer, for instance, they can't dry the meat , they can't smoke it, they can't pack it in salt, they can't home-can it. Eat what they can before it spoils and keep moving...what a waste.

Granted, I'm not sure how available salt still is in their area. But smoking is relatively low-tech. People have been doing it for thousands of years. Only problem is, most secure places to spend a few days preserving meat tend to have a broken fence or an overgrown gutter or a dented lawn gnome or something. Which apparently proves that the only place on earth that anybody can smoke a deer is in Washington D.C.

And... now I'm kind of wishing that when that bullet had exploded through that deer and into Carl, that it hadn't been Rick there, but Yakov Smirnoff. Just so he could say: "In Soviet Russia, deer smokes you!"

Edited February 11, 2015 by CletusMusashi

[kikismom]

Granted, I'm not sure how available salt still is in their area. But smoking is relatively low-tech. People have been doing it for thousands of years. Only problem is, most secure places to spend a few days preserving meat tend to have a broken fence or an overgrown gutter or a dented lawn gnome or something. Which apparently proves that the only place on earth that anybody can smoke a deer is in Washington D.C.

And... now I'm kind of wishing that when that bullet had exploded through that deer and into Carl, that it hadn't been Rick there, but Yakov Smirnoff. Just so he could say: "In Soviet Russia, deer smokes you!"

Agreed (and salt better be available, i've been thinking that they sometimes get their requirement from canned food, but without salt you're in trouble.)

 

My post was not about difficulty or low-tech versus high-tech ( perhaps I should have clarified?) ; it's about the time needed.

The question was about roaming or staying put...smoking meat takes a while and for a nomadic lifestyle where you are the prey being hunted by creatures who have more sense of smell than sight---and human thieves who can smell it too---I would want to be behind walls.

Hell, I don't even fry bacon on camping trips because of the bear problem we have here. Even small campfires are regarded on the show as dangerous; using available debris to build a temp smokehouse takes time.

We smoke catfish but it still has to be kept in the fridge.

 

Loved the Yakov Smirnoff line! Or they could have had Otis shoot Carl and then come out of the woods with his shotgun and say the (adapted) line from the horror movie Motel Hell:

"It takes all kinds of critters to make Farmer Greene's fritters!"

Edited February 11, 2015 by kikismom

[Bryce Lynch]

What about gasoline? Wouldn't the gas they are siphoning out of cars that has been sitting there for years begin to lose it potency? I know they recommend not storing gas for generators for too long or adding gas stabilizer. Also, wouldn't the car batteries start to die after years of not being used?

Edited February 11, 2015 by Bryce Lynch

[kikismom]

What about gasoline? Wouldn't the gas they are siphoning out of cars that has been sitting there for yeats begin to lose it potency? I know they recommend not storing gas for generators for too long or adding gas stabilizer. Also, wouldn't the car batteries start to die after years of not being used?

Now you even want the transportation to follow logical rules?

On a show that does this?

[AngelaHunter]

The beard is getting a bit much.

 

Yeah, it's pretty much gone from Hot to Horror.

[Bryce Lynch]

Yeah, it's pretty much gone from Hot to Horror.

 

Is it true that Rick was refusing to shave until Tyrese killed a bad guy? :)

[JasonCC]

In terms of being forced to eat weird things during the apocolypse, your average hot dog is actually MUCH more mystery meat and random parts (cow lips etc) than SPAM. It's actually just canned side-pork (and I think some potato starch). The funny name and jokes about it have contributed to a perception it's fake meat or "you don't WANT to know what it really is", but it is much more akin to cubed ham than to a cheap hot dog which is really horrible things ground up and pressed into a sausage shape.

 

I'm also of the opinion 2-3 years into the apocalypse there is probably still much more salvageable food than people think. I don't think anyone who is moving around and doing raids in populated regions would be starving (yet). American shelf food is so full of preservatives and it's not just gorcery stores, convenience shops, but private homes and restaurants to pillage. Remember, most people are now dead or walkers so (to me) the biggest +++ on the trade off of not going into secluded rural areas is plenty of food to salvage (especially if you are willing to eat stale shit and dog & cat food). Plus, every supermarket and drug store carries vitamins these days I could see survivors who didn't retreat into rural areas still having ample vitamin supplements fairly available to help out inconsistent/irregular diets.

I really don't think true malnutrion or actual starvation would be rampant quite yet in the urban and suburban areas.

Edited February 12, 2015 by JasonCC

[iRarelyWatchTV36]

Is it true that Rick was refusing to shave until Tyrese killed a bad guy? :)

 

Ha.  Even if Tyrese was still alive, Rick would be able to wrap that beard up over his head in a couple of months - would that make it a beard-toupe?  Trap all that sweat & 'grease' in.

 

I know the conditions are horrible (heat/humidity), but almost every time he's on screen, I find myself inner-monologuing "Rick just got done taking a shower in his clothes AGAIN!?".

[AngelaHunter]

Quote

Is it true that Rick was refusing to shave until Tyrese killed a bad guy? :)

 

Then I guess it's lucky for all concerned that Tyrese went belly up, or we may have ended up with this:

 

 

 

[kikismom]

Or Tyreese could have seen that bet by growing his beard till Rick got laid, and we'd end up with this:

[Disraeli Ears]

Are we sure Rick's beard is even *beard* at this point? It is beginning to look like...mold or lichens or some shit.

 

GET RICK A RAZOR! Bring back sexy stubble Rick! [i'm totally going to start a change petition because I know the power of the INTERNET!!!1!!!] :P

[kikismom]

Am I the only one who likes Rick's beard?

I don't care if he grows is down to his boot-tops, I'd still do him before I'd even think of doing the clean-shaven Abraham, Eugene, Father Gabriel, or Tara.

[CarpeDiem54]

Am I the only one who likes Rick's beard?

I don't care if he grows is down to his boot-tops, I'd still do him before I'd even think of doing the clean-shaven Abraham, Eugene, Father Gabriel, or Tara.

I like Rick's beard, too. But then I've always been hot for bearded guys. I'll take his full beard any day over those scraggly sparse pube hairs on Daryl's face.

[Nashville]

What about gasoline? Wouldn't the gas they are siphoning out of cars that has been sitting there for years begin to lose it potency? I know they recommend not storing gas for generators for too long or adding gas stabilizer. Also, wouldn't the car batteries start to die after years of not being used?

 

True about the gasoline; the batteries, not so much.  So long as the cell remains dry (sulfuric acid electrolyte solution hasn't been added), a lead-acid battery with good seals on the caps can stay on the shelf indefinitely without degradation.

 

In terms of being forced to eat weird things during the apocolypse, your average hot dog is actually MUCH more mystery meat and random parts (cow lips etc) than SPAM. It's actually just canned side-pork (and I think some potato starch). The funny name and jokes about it have contributed to a perception it's fake meat or "you don't WANT to know what it really is", but it is much more akin to cubed ham than to a cheap hot dog which is really horrible things ground up and pressed into a sausage shape.

 

I'm also of the opinion 2-3 years into the apocalypse there is probably still much more salvageable food than people think.

 

Also, 90% of your food source competition will be almost immediately eradicated.  So there's a plus right off the bat.  :)

[Bryce Lynch]

True about the gasoline; the batteries, not so much. So long as the cell remains dry (sulfuric acid electrolyte solution hasn't been added), a lead-acid battery with good seals on the caps can stay on the shelf indefinitely without degradation.

Also, 90% of your food source competition will be almost immediately eradicated. So there's a plus right off the bat. :)

Good info about the batteries. I wasn't thinking of ones on shelves in auto parts stores, but ones in the abandoned cars, which would be more exposed to the elements and possibly supplying power to alarm systems and such.

As for the non perishable food supply, I think there might be much, less around than we might assume.

How much of a supply of food does the average household have. Maybe a few weeks worth in an emergency?

I would think Walmarts and supermarkets turnover their inventory fairly quickly so there might only be about enough to supply the full population for a week or two.

Assuming there is about a 2 week supply for the full population, if 10% of the population remained, it would last about 20 weeks. They could stretch it out by eating less and conserving it, but within a year or two, I think it could be very scarce.

With nobody to maintain the stores, a lot of the boxed, dry foods, would also be destroyed by rats, mice. roaches, meal moths and other pests or by rain from leaking roofs or excessive heat or humidity.

Then again the remaining population could be far less than 10% and would be dropping steadily.

Edited February 13, 2015 by Bryce Lynch

[kikismom]

Good info about the batteries. I wasn't thinking of ones on shelves in auto parts stores, but ones in the abandoned cars, which would be more exposed to the elements and possibly supplying power to alarm systems and such.

As for the non perishable food supply, I think there might be much, less around than we might assume.

How much of a supply of food does the average household have. Maybe a few weeks worth in an emergency?

I would think Walmarts and supermarkets turnover their inventory fairly quickly so there might only be about enough to supply the full population for a week or two.

Assuming there is about a 2 week supply for the full population, if 10% of the population remained, it would last about 20 weeks. They could stretch it out by eating less and conserving it, but within a year or two, I think it could be very scarce.

With nobody to maintain the stores, a lot of the boxed, dry foods, would also be destroyed by rats, mice. roaches, meal moths and other pests or by rain from leaking roofs or excessive heat or humidity.

Then again the remaining population could be far less than 10% and would be dropping steadily.

 

Thank you! Now I don't feel so lonely!

 

A few things to remember folks!...

 

• How much of canned food is salty water? According to Consumer Reports, most canned food including vegetables, fruit, and meat, had almost half water

.Doesn't matter what the weight listed on the can is! FDA says the weight of the can itself, the water, and then the food all comprise the listed weight.

 

• A ten ounce can of chicken has about 5 ounces chicken. A sixteen ouncle can of green beans has only half green beans and the rest is water and salt.

 

• When Consumer Reports questioned grocery conglomerates, they got answers such as Green Giant saying it was 75% vegetable weight and 25% percent water, and Hormel---which cans different meats---said it was 80% meat and 20% water. Yet when their canned foods were all tested, the highest amount of food was 57%, the rest was salty water.

 

• To just barely survive, without any physical strain, but suffering physical/metabolic problems, one pound of food per day supposedly barely makes it. Three pounds per day is low level sufficiency.

 

• But what is the weight made of? It isn't the weight as much as the calories. 3 cans of green beans might weigh, in the can, 3 pound. But the calories per can would average 210, for a total of 620 calories. You cannot survive for long on 210 or 620 calories of string beans a day.

Even if you just lay there on the ground.

A can of carrots provides the total calories of 105 calories, 3 cans a day would be 315 calories. Per day.

 

• Let's play with our numbers here: we have a group of 14 people. But one is a baby. She either needs some solid food with vitamins and proteins or she needs old expired baby formula. 8 ounces per bottle is a half pound, if they could use condensed milk she still needs several cans a day. Let's count her same as the adults in number of cans to find.

 

14 people getting 1 insufficient-to-survive can a day is 63 cans of food a week. Seventeen days they've been on the road, that would be 238 cans to find. To be sick enough to die.

3 pounds a day, better but not good and still starvation level, would be 42 cans to find a day, 714 cans over 17 days. Does this seem likely to you?

 

Maybe they'll find Spam, or a jar of peanut butter. But let's remember they aren't the only people.

 

• Some estimate 99% of people are gone. I am going by the TWD wiki, and the show figures at the beginning 50% were dead quickly and then it progressed to 90%.

. But say it is 99%.

Out of 10 million people in GA for instance, that would leave 100,000 people.

There has been no canned or dry packaged non-perishable food produced, canned, or delivered for about 18 months.

I'll be generous and say the survivors are all anorexic m***** fashion models who like to be on 16 ounces of food a day even if it's just carrots. That's 100,000 cans/16 ounce boxes of spaghetti or what have you.That have to be scavenged by survivors in GA. Per day.

          100,000 per day. For a least 365 days, more like 547 days.

 

Can you do the math?

Edited February 13, 2015 by kikismom

[CarpeDiem54]

Must be eatin' a whole mess o' sqweerils...

[Bryce Lynch]

Must be eatin' a whole mess o' sqweerils...

Yup! That can also be problematic as a diet of only extremely lean meat can lead to "rabbit starvation".

[AngelaHunter]

I think we have to overlook the food situation. If this were real, everyone would have scurvy by now and be way skinnier than they are.  Humans, unlike cats, cannot get what they need from lean meat. I just keep wondering what on earth they're feeding the baby.

Am I the only one who likes Rick's beard?

I don't care if he grows is down to his boot-tops, I'd still do him before I'd even think of doing the clean-shaven Abraham, Eugene, Father Gabriel, or Tara.

 

I liked it until last week.  I'm not a fan of long beards, but yeah, given a choice of the above-named or Grizzly Grimes, it's no contest. Tara? Don't think so. Not my thing.

[Nashville]

I liked it until last week.  I'm not a fan of long beards, but yeah, given a choice of the above-named or Grizzly Grimes, it's no contest. Tara? Don't think so. Not my thing.

Leg hair is a different thing altogether.

[Bongo Fury]

Doesn't matter what the weight listed on the can is! FDA says the weight of the can itself, the water, and then the food all comprise the listed weight.

 

[sNIP]

 

Can you do the math?

 

The first statement is false. The weight listed on a can of food is "Net Wt. x". Net weight does not include the tare (packaging/container).

 

An active adult needs about 2000 calories a day, an athlete in training can eat 5 times that. I use to run marathons casually, nothing serious, and when I was at my peak training before a race (about 60 miles/week running) I would eat about 5k a day. CDB are certainly active adults, probably more so trying to survive the ZA, but let's say they need 2k calories a day each. Looking through my cupboard, trying to get a semi balanced diet:

Chicken Noodle soup, 10.5 oz, 175 cal

Tomato Soup, 10.75 oz, 225 cal

Baked Beans, 16 oz, 510 cal

Tuna, 5 oz, 160 cal

Beets, 15.75 oz, 140 cal

Spinach, 13.5, 105 cal

Ramen Noodles, 3 oz, 380

Pineapple, 20 oz, 315

 

That's 2010 calories, 7 cans and 1 brick of Ramen noodles weighing 94.5 oz (5.9 lbs).

 

For 14 people that's 84 cans a day, 588/wk, 2520/month (177 pounds)

Edited February 13, 2015 by Bongo Fury

[kikismom]

Season six Tara:

[kikismom]

For 14 people that's 84 cans a day, 588/wk, 2520/month (177 pounds)

I stand corrected on the net weight---thank you!

Anyone thinking they found 1428 cans of food in the 17 days since Beth died?

[AngelaHunter]

Leg hair is a different thing altogether.

 

What exactly are we talking about? *she asks with great trepidation*

[kikismom]

What exactly are we talking about? *she asks with great trepidation*

I think it's because there's no one saying peak leg hair is the new look for 2015.

 

Just tell people you are wearing angora tights.

[iRarelyWatchTV36]

Season six Tara:

 

Season Six Tara = Cousin It's long lost... er, cousin.

 

 

And as a dude, I'm frigging jealous of the amount of leg hair she's sportin'!  She could probly spark off a fire with enough friction there.

Edited February 14, 2015 by iRarelyWatchTV36

[kikismom]

Season Six Tara = Cousin It's long lost... er, cousin.

 

 

And as a dude, I'm frigging jealous of the amount of leg hair she's sportin'!  She could probly spark off a fire with enough friction there.

This could be a survival strategy:

• comb out shedding hairs and make sweaters to keep warm
• spin into cord and make a Moses basket for Judith
• couldn't they catch fish? The girls could wade in a stream, and Rick could dangle his chin in the water, and the fish would take shelter in the long waving tendrils. Kind of like the Kelp Forest Exhibit at the Aquarium, only smellier.

[editorgrrl]

I was just thinking how utterly ridiculous it'd be if Morgan turns out to be Noah's uncle. Then I realized that if I survived the ZA (a big "if"—I'm a Milton), I would be glad to see anyone I knew from "before." Even that jerky co-worker who's always talking about her horse. (Nobody likes a kid with a pony. </Seinfeld>)

But seriously, a Morgan-Noah relationship'd take way more suspension of disbelief than the food & toilet situations combined.

Edited February 14, 2015 by editorgrrl

[kikismom]

I think Noah would have mentioned more than uncle; he would have had no way to know that Jenny and Duane were already dead so I think he would have said my aunt and uncle and my cousin. Or, my uncle and his family.

Although this show is known for script writing that contradicts already established storylines.

[NurseGiGi]

I was wondering about their calorie requirements after I watched a documentary called Walking with the Wounded in which they had a race in Antartica to raise money and awareness for wounded vets.  Anyway, their calorie requirements were around 9-10,000 calories per day.  Now I know CDB is not on skis in severe cold but they are constantly moving so they would still require an awful lot of calories.

 

So, yeah, one of a list of things I have to ignore.  Although, when they got the huge cans of green beans and such from the food bank I was expecting them to dive into that like starving wolves.

Edited February 14, 2015 by NurseGiGi

[kikismom]

 Although, when they got the huge cans of green beans and such from the food bank I was expecting them to dive into that like starving wolves.

There was an interview with Steven Yuen where he said the director had to keep yelling at them to act happy to see food! Act excited! Because they were not showing enough "ravenous" behaviour , just dishing up beans, NBD.

[Disraeli Ears]

Remember how excited Carl was to eat the pudding? In real life, I think, eating that much of something so rich must do a number on you.

 

I.e., I imagine

Carl must have had diarrhea for DAAAAAYS.

 

Serves him right for not saving any for Michonne.

Edited February 15, 2015 by Disraeli Ears

[CarpeDiem54]

Remember how excited Carl was to eat the pudding? In real life, I think, eating that much of something so rich must do a number on you.

 

I.e., I imagine

Carl must have had diarrhea for DAAAAAYS.

 

Serves him right for not saving any for Michonne.

Yeah, and since they don't seem to hoard toilet paper when they get a chance, that would be problematic. I'll be the one with a case of TP and wet wipes strapped to my back in the ZA.

[kikismom]

I think Carl said to Rick that it was 117 ounces, which is more than 7 pounds?!

I guess he'd be pretty easy to track through the woods.

[Nashville]

This could be a survival strategy:

• comb out shedding hairs and make sweaters to keep warm
• spin into cord and make a Moses basket for Judith
• couldn't they catch fish? The girls could wade in a stream, and Rick could dangle his chin in the water, and the fish would take shelter in the long waving tendrils. Kind of like the Kelp Forest Exhibit at the Aquarium, only smellier.

#4: let it grow out long and tangled enough, and a walker could never get a tooth through that shin shrubbery. One less thing to worry about.

[Mu Shu]

I can't find the citation, but I read that Michael Cudlitz was unhappy about his weight when he was cast, and has been working out ever since. So Abraham's moobs should hopefully be shrinking.

 

The only onscreen exercise-for-exercise's-sake I can recall was Dawn on her exercise bike (cardio!), and Michonne doing crunches in the prison while Beth sang to Judith (season 4, episode 2, "Infected"). 

I need to go off topic for a second:    What do you ladies and gentlemen do when confronted with moobs in a romantic setting?

 

Yes, I hope Abe looses his moobs.    It's like watching Charlies Angels with a really ugly angel, what with all the boobs and nipples. 

[AngelaHunter]

What do you ladies and gentlemen do when confronted with moobs in a romantic setting?

 

That never happened to me, since I always sneakily checked out all these things before agreeing to romance of any kind. True moobs, among other things,  are deal-breakers for me.

 

I guess that's one good thing about the ZA. No more moobs!

[kikismom]

I need to go off topic for a second:    What do you ladies and gentlemen do when confronted with moobs in a romantic setting?

 

 

I just ask my crazy neighbor to fit the guy with a manssiere: "The Bro".

 

[AngelaHunter]

I just ask my crazy neighbor to fit the guy with a manssiere: "The Bro".

 

 

 

 

 

[BrokenRemote]

In terms of being forced to eat weird things during the apocolypse, your average hot dog is actually MUCH more mystery meat and random parts (cow lips etc) than SPAM. It's actually just canned side-pork (and I think some potato starch). The funny name and jokes about it have contributed to a perception it's fake meat or "you don't WANT to know what it really is", but it is much more akin to cubed ham than to a cheap hot dog which is really horrible things ground up and pressed into a sausage shape.

 

I'm also of the opinion 2-3 years into the apocalypse there is probably still much more salvageable food than people think. I don't think anyone who is moving around and doing raids in populated regions would be starving (yet). American shelf food is so full of preservatives and it's not just gorcery stores, convenience shops, but private homes and restaurants to pillage. Remember, most people are now dead or walkers so (to me) the biggest +++ on the trade off of not going into secluded rural areas is plenty of food to salvage (especially if you are willing to eat stale shit and dog & cat food). Plus, every supermarket and drug store carries vitamins these days I could see survivors who didn't retreat into rural areas still having ample vitamin supplements fairly available to help out inconsistent/irregular diets.

I really don't think true malnutrion or actual starvation would be rampant quite yet in the urban and suburban areas.

When I was a kid, we had Potted Meat and Vienna Sausage.  When I grew up I read some labels and did some research. Man, that stuff made hot dogs look pure!  Even before I gave up meat I wasn't touching that with a ten-foot-pole.  But how I used to love a potted meat sandwich with mustard when I was a kid (and potato chips crushed up right in the sandwich, but I'm weird like that.)

 

I still fanwank that they just choose not to show us the boring details of gathering food unless it's pertinent to the plot that they don't have any.  We'd be sick to death of watching endless hours of fishing, of filtering water from creeks, of picking wild mushrooms or skinning rabbits and squirrels.  They travel light, so I can't make myself believe they're hauling around cans of veggies, but if they find them they must just eat them right away or in the next couple days.  Since they stick to the woods a lot, and they've got Daryl (and also Maggie, who grew up in the country, and sometimes I think Carol might have), they can probably shoot game a lot of the time.  They might find the occasional fruit or nut tree.  The south has a longer growing season than the north (but winter must be rough).

 

Obviously this week, they have no food because they made a big deal of it :)  In reality, I think it would take up about 80 percent of your time, just trying to feed everyone.

 

(Also, this is awful, but with how big the group is all I could think when they were eating the dogs was that it wouldn't have amounted to much meat for each one of them.)

[CletusMusashi]

I don't see why they don't have time to show them doing mundane survival tasks. All the angsty conversations could still happen. They'd happen while boiling water or digging up edible roots or whatever, that's all. Season 2 did that stuff all the time, and it made them feel more like a realistic community.

[lawless]

They have to be surrounded by kudzu, the "vine that ate the south."  I grew up in Virginia, and it's all over, just like in Georgia.  I have never tried it, and it doesn't sound good, but the leaves, vine tips, and roots are edible.  I wonder if you heat it in a pan if it would release it's liquid (the leaves most likely) and cook like spinach?  Doesn't sound good, but eating it might help stave off the dehydration and starvation.  It's doesn't seem like that has occurred to the group.  Or maybe it did and it just tasted so bad that they gave it up.

 

I do and I don't want scenes of them foraging for food and going about the vital but more mundane aspects of survival. I don't want straight shots of people walking around looking at the ground picking mushrooms.  But there are ways to film mundane tasks to make them more interesting.  For example, Breaking Bad could make putting money in a safe interesting by filming it from inside the safe.  Music can help too.  I agree, there probably isn't all the much left in the way of canned goods to find, particularly if they, like many others, are avoiding heavily populated areas.  But I'd love to see them finding a bag of flour, mixing it with a little water (when they can find it), and making homemade tortillas or something now and then.  Getting inventive with what might still be left to find. 

[BrokenRemote]

Right, like Carol could tell Daryl to let out his sorrow while they were actually looking for water, instead of them going off to look for water, but stopping and standing in the middle of a clearing to have their conversation.  Seriously, there's a lot of standing around talking that could be talking while doing things, and I think it would add a lot of realism, because in all honesty there probably wouldn't be much downtime.  We did see them have a lot of conversations while walking this week, which was something at least.

 

P.S.  Per the title of this thread, I do not want to see any conversations held while one or both parties are in the throes of food poisoning.

Edited February 17, 2015 by BrokenRemote

[mnelson54321]

I think this is my first post, so sorry if this is a repeat thread, I looked around and didn't see anything similar

 

My question is this:

 

Would the human survivors really be so bad off, after however many (Years?) after the ZA?

 

The way I see it is that there would probably be an explosion of small to medium game, such as deer, rabbits, chickens, hogs (pigs, warthogs) etc. that would experience a population boom due to there being FAR less humans in the world.  Most of these animals already have a keen sense of their surroundings (unlike our survivors....) and would hear a twig or the endless slogging about and moaning and groaning of the zombies and get away.  

 

Further, I don't even think that a herd of walkers could successfully chase down a chicken.  Do they even care about chickens?  Unclear.  Chicken may be a bad example.  I once tried to catch a chicken and about an hour later I was convinced the chicken was screwing with me.  I doubt a mindless zombie could do this.

 

Cows.  Sure, those slow moving larger animals probably stand no chance.  Horses, Depends on the horse, I suppose. 

 

How about instead of Darrell eating the worm, he puts it on a hook and catches a fish?  And where ARE all the lakes/Rivers??  

 

Even squirrels like we're accustomed to Darrell eating would seem to be in high demand, along with a very large rat/scavenger population that would certainly exist where there is nothing but rot all around.  There should also be a massive feral domesticated cat population in the area.  I don't think a zombie is catching a cat either.  

 

Maybe I'm over-thinking things, but if the animals aren't turning into the dead (Like you see in Resident Evil with dogs) then there should be a large amount of live food all throughout the country.  

 

 

[Muffyn]

I need to go off topic for a second:    What do you ladies and gentlemen do when confronted with moobs in a romantic setting?

 

Yes, I hope Abe looses his moobs.    It's like watching Charlies Angels with a really ugly angel, what with all the boobs and nipples. 

I think Michael Cudlitz is one of the sexiest men alive.  Then again, I tend to go for beefy people.  That only increases the absolute horror I find his godawful orange hair to be.  How dare they do this to such a good-looking man.  Oh, the humanity!   

 

In the ZA, as a person with a disability, I will be a mess.  But if they settled down somewhere, I could turn damn near anything into a meal.  Bring me a dead critter, I'l have it dressed and ready for cooking, preserve some and make broth from the bones.  Might even turn the skins into something.  I can also set up a rice paddy if we have water, grow vegetables, find edible roots, etc.  I like when Daryl hunts small animals - it is realistic.  Heck, I even enjoyed his worm snack.  I'd be trapping insects.  The bigger problem is a lack of water.  If you don't have sufficient water, you shouldn't eat.  Someone up thread mentioning cooking down greens for the liquid.  That would be a good start when no fresh water is available.  If they're travelling, I would expect them to walk as close as possible to streams so they would have access to clean water. 

[kikismom]

I think this is my first post, so sorry if this is a repeat thread, I looked around and didn't see anything similar

 

My question is this:

 

Would the human survivors really be so bad off, after however many (Years?) after the ZA?

 

The way I see it is that there would probably be an explosion of small to medium game, such as deer, rabbits, chickens, hogs (pigs, warthogs) etc. that would experience a population boom due to there being FAR less humans in the world.  Most of these animals already have a keen sense of their surroundings (unlike our survivors....) and would hear a twig or the endless slogging about and moaning and groaning of the zombies and get away.  

 

Further, I don't even think that a herd of walkers could successfully chase down a chicken.  Do they even care about chickens?  Unclear.  Chicken may be a bad example.  I once tried to catch a chicken and about an hour later I was convinced the chicken was screwing with me.  I doubt a mindless zombie could do this.

 

Cows.  Sure, those slow moving larger animals probably stand no chance.  Horses, Depends on the horse, I suppose. 

 

How about instead of Darrell eating the worm, he puts it on a hook and catches a fish?  And where ARE all the lakes/Rivers??  

 

Even squirrels like we're accustomed to Darrell eating would seem to be in high demand, along with a very large rat/scavenger population that would certainly exist where there is nothing but rot all around.  There should also be a massive feral domesticated cat population in the area.  I don't think a zombie is catching a cat either.  

 

Maybe I'm over-thinking things, but if the animals aren't turning into the dead (Like you see in Resident Evil with dogs) then there should be a large amount of live food all throughout the country.  

Far less humans...all doing something that few of them did before: hunt and trap animals and live off them. Hunting season would now be everyday of the year, with no tag limits. Constant.

If one percent of humans are left, you would still have over 300 million walkers. That don't eat from hunger, They go after living things for the energy in blood that keeps them going. 24 hours a day.

 

Animals have keen sense of hearing---yes. But not superpowers of going without sleep, running night and day. Animals have to have sleep and water. Animals that eat plants need hours a day of feeding, rabbits, hogs etc that are not given prepared food by livestock keepers also need hours to forage.

 

Walkers care about chickens was made very clear in season 2 as Patricia fed chickens to walkers in the barn. And all animals get a lot easier to catch when they are about to collapse from exhaustion.

 

I would guess the lakes and rivers are in the atmosphere for now on the show; at least in the American South. In real life, my mother's home had to be sandbagged 4 years ago from rising water. The next 2 years were sun and no rain and the lake behind her house dried up till it was cracked lake bed and everything in it had long since died. This summer was neverending rain and the edge of the lake is right up to a few feet from the back door. That's how it goes.

 

Imagine if a nice lake was there. Say 14 adults eat little sunfish. Great! Now imagine they camp near this great food source. They only eat a little fish each every other day. That's still 2555 fish in a year. Better be a big lake, and no one else around that would discover a big lake with fish.

People can consume faster than animals can reproduce. We do not realize that in our lives because we have factory farming.

It takes a newborn whitetail a year at least to get to 125 lbs. 13 adults divide that is less than 10 pounds per adult. Counting bones, hide, ears, bowels, and hooves.

Our 13 adults could go through ten pounds in a couple days; they would have to since there is no cold storage or other way on the road to preserve meat.

That wouldn't work for long.

 

Increase in rats, mice, squirrels, bunnies would be matched by birds of prey and snakes having a feast.Well fed snakes can have LOTS of babies. Don't forget that rodents are not precocial like some animals. Like puppies and kittens, they are born helpless and eyes closed and unable to ambulate.The mother needs to get food and water.

 

As far as horses? Look up what has happened with horses that people can no longer afford to feed and have turned out "to the wild". They have died. That's without walkers, or desperate humans hunting them.

Edited February 17, 2015 by kikismom

[diebartdie]

I think this is one of the many things this show is just so wrong about. Kikismom is most likely correct, keeping a huge band of people alive on the road would be impossible because you just could not keep everyone fed. I think in that situation, large band of people like that would hunker down somewhere and make it work there. For instance a prison that instead of leaving yourself exposed behind flimsy chain link fences, you would reinforce those fences with corrugated metal, wooden pallets, metal posts, etc and maybe even throw some old sheets and stuff over them to make it sort of like the entire thing is invisible to the zombies. Zeds could still hear though so other precautions would have to be made BUT you could start farming, even raising chickens (NO ROOSTERS!!!). Sheesh, anyone remember the scene in the Battlestar Galactica miniseries where Baltar was asked exactly how much food needed to be produced to keep everyone fed and he reeled off these huge numbers and at the end he admitted that was the very very bare minimum and even with that, people would still be very hungry. Takes a lot to keep us going!

 

Life on the road could work for scavenger teams of two or MAYBE three if they were really a well oiled machine together but IMO, groups larger than that would not be able to make it on the road at all. Also......of everything on this show I have to suspend my disbelief over the fact that Judith is alive and well and fat is the one thing that I reject outright. There is NO WAY that baby would still be alive and look like she does (cute as she is and symbolic as she is, I wish she had already died, back in the prison really)

Edited February 17, 2015 by diebartdie

[BellaLugosi]

I think going to DC is one of the dumbest things they have done.  There was nothing at the CDC, why would DC be any different?

 

I can see why they thought going to Noah's place was a good idea. But after that, I thought a sensible thing to do would be to look for a city. When they went to Atlanta, it wasn't overrrun. They come across more walkers in the woods than they did there.  Even that town with the library they had said was largely untouched. Ok, so if you insist on going to DC, go with a plan. Just walking? No supplies? Driving until you run out of gas? DC isn't going anywhere. The prison was a great idea of a place to live. Just because they were attacked by other humans doesn't mean being on the road is safer. All they need to hear is one dissenting voice and common sense goes right out the window.

 

By the way, all that food that they got at the food bank is gone? They had a pallet full of food! And that was about 3 weeks ago in storyline iirc. Did they just leave that behind in their rush to get to DC/Noah's place?

 

I think that I think about survival in a ZA more than these survivors do.  Actually I know I do LOL.

[diebartdie]

Only so much you can carry when your backpack magically disappears until you need it to be on your back during a really stressful scene where you find yourself nearly trapped in a very tight, enclosed space.

[AngelaHunter]

There is NO WAY that baby would still be alive and look like she does (cute as she is and symbolic as she is, I wish she had already died, back in the prison really)

 

I have to agree. Watching her being carried down the road, in the blazing sun, with no covering on her tender little noggin annoyed me. In reality, she'd be burned and blistered, not to mention dehydrated and thin. Worrying about her takes me out of the story.