Found at Nothing To Do With Arbroath, where Blitherypoop has posted a quite interesting link about herbivores becoming opportunistically omnivorous (and especially note the comments at that link).
Reposted from 2011 to place it adjacent to the post about the bird-eating squirrel.
I had a bit of a laugh seeing myself mentioned. The tetzoo post stuck in my mind and probably blended with some of Richard Dawkins' writing because I found myself thinking about mammals that have made the switch on some larger level. Pigs, whales, and pandas are the only ones the spring to mind at the moment, but I think I had more listed mentally at one point. Pigs and whales are both from herbivorous origins and pandas are part of Carnivora.
ReplyDeleteI've heard of those deer that bite off the heads of certain birds, particulary on the Island of Rum. This isn't limited to the red deer of Rum either, since the sheep there also munch on the chocks of Manx Shearwaters, mainly due to a calcium deficiency.
ReplyDeleteThat's mainly one of the reason why certain animals will occasionally eat certain things, be it grass, meat or even bones, mainly because there's a deficiency in vitamins or nutrients from their diets. For examples, cats (wild cats and dogs as well) will eat grass for the fiber content, though in my case, I have a cat who runs outside to nibble on grass.
The other nutrient I have to add here is salt, since I've lived around hamster, rats and horses, salt licks are an essential nutrient they seem to lack. It's been well documented how certain animals, such as elephants will travel for long distances to salt deposits to obtain salt in their diet.
Red rum deer? Sounds like a Stephen King story...
ReplyDeleteYou have it wrong. I believe the nice lady said that he ate a barrd.
ReplyDelete