Food

caveman1

New Member
So I looked around to see if anyone had posted this and could not find it. So does anyone know if the Preds actually eat the humans or what do they eat? Judgeing from there teeth (some dont have any on the bottom) I don't belive they would chew there food more swallow. And maybe there mandibles more hold the food and pull it into there months. So what do you all think?
 
"He comes here every 2 days to feed, we figure he has a taste for Beef" "I didn't think he was a Vegetarian" Gary Busey & Danny Glover's own words from Predator 2. As for their actual eating methods, I'd guess the Mandibles would rip the food off & their upper & lower smaller teeth would infact chew it up. We've only ever seen the Mandibles open for roaring & clicking, it's possible they're as strong as an Eagle's Talons.

Then again we could both be delving too far into this. Anyone with extensive Comic Book Knowledge would probably know.
 
in the AVP books with machiko, it says that they eat most/all of their prey,
i know they eat aliens in a stew like way, most likely eat humans if on the
hunt for them unless just for the trophies. they usualy don't waste
 
Something else I just thought of, they might favor the taste of Skins over actual Meat too. Think about that, other than the fear tactic to use on humans, what else would the Pred do with the skin? It's great to peel off the trophies & I'll bet to them it's sustenance on the Battlefield..

God, that didn't sound depraved & disgusting at all did it? Oh wait, I'm on a Predator Discussion forum, Spinal Decapitation is normal around here. :p
 
So I looked around to see if anyone had posted this and could not find it. So does anyone know if the Preds actually eat the humans or what do they eat? Judgeing from there teeth (some dont have any on the bottom) I don't belive they would chew there food more swallow. And maybe there mandibles more hold the food and pull it into there months. So what do you all think?


I don't think they eat humans, in the first Predator Movie and in the Novels it always depicts the Predators throwing the human Body aside or leaving the remains and keeping the Skulls. If they ate human meat they'd have more than likely either eaten it after every few weeks like they sayin Predator 2, or have it preserved for the return trips when they finish their hunts. Nothing from the Books or the movies indicate that they ea Human flesh, meat skin or otherwise, and I've even read fan fictions from other Predator Fans that say that a Predator that does eat Human flesh is "Not quite right in the head" in other words; sick disgusting and Crazy for doing so
 
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i know they eat aliens in a stew like way

See, I just don't get this... If Alien blood is acidic and eats through steel grates of ships, armor, etc., how in the hell are you supposed to fillet an Alien, let alone put the bloody meat in a pot or even on a stick to cook it?!?! Don't try and tell me that dumping baking soda on it, nullifies the acidic properties. I'm just sayin'...

I wonder if they use napkins...
 
See, I just don't get this... If Alien blood is acidic and eats through steel grates of ships, armor, etc., how in the hell are you supposed to fillet an Alien, let alone put the bloody meat in a pot or even on a stick to cook it?!?! Don't try and tell me that dumping baking soda on it, nullifies the acidic properties. I'm just sayin'...

I wonder if they use napkins...


Maybe first they let it drain out like we would after we've bagged a deer.... then 'skin' it and then fillet it.

---
Ei'luj
 
ive read alot of steve perrys aliens and pred books and i dont ever remember reading that the predators ate the humans
and i read the original AVP story with machiko.i also never read that they ate humans in any of the dark horse comics

In my opinion they dont eat humans, From books to all the films they left the skin and remains below the bodys when stringing up a warning signand in P2 the pred eats cow if he ate humans he wouldnt have gone to the Meat distributor every so many days.

and as for eating xenos if AVP showed us anything the shell of a xeno is not affected by there blood and scar totally dismantled a xenos head and tail with no blood going anywhere so it could be they eat the shell and boil that and not touch the inards also another fun fact is pred blood is a neutralyzer of xeno acid so it could be like predator hot sauce if they did eat some xeno blood
 
A friend and I were discussing this very thing last night…. basically whether or not predators are omnivores or strict carnivores.
(One thing first though, I don’t believe predators eat humans, now with that out of the way…)
One thing that must be taken into account is that Predators have mouths that have evolved to eat food from their planet, not ours. So I see them having a bit of an issue with most “earth “foods. The structure of their eatable “meat” and “Plant” materials are most likely different from ours in their composure.
I see predators eating smaller semi-soft to soft foods like invertebrates; snails, squid, shellfish and various soft veggies/fruits like tomatoes, bananas..Etc, to smaller items which they can pretty much swallow whole. I don’t believe that they are able to chew and I see them as basically holding and manipulation the food with the mandibles and using the four lower teeth to “rake” the food into their…..Oropharynx.? I guess? For lack of a better word .
Tatsu, I think you’re on the right track with the talon theory, except for one thing, talons “crush” not rip. The mandibles could very well repeatedly crush, puncture and break food down and the smaller lower teeth sort of “rake” off these broken parts, which the Predator would then swallow whole.
~Estelle
 
A friend and I were discussing this very thing last night…. basically whether or not predators are omnivores or strict carnivores.
(One thing first though, I don’t believe predators eat humans, now with that out of the way…)
One thing that must be taken into account is that Predators have mouths that have evolved to eat food from their planet, not ours. So I see them having a bit of an issue with most “earth “foods. The structure of their eatable “meat” and “Plant” materials are most likely different from ours in their composure.
I see predators eating smaller semi-soft to soft foods like invertebrates; snails, squid, shellfish and various soft veggies/fruits like tomatoes, bananas..Etc, to smaller items which they can pretty much swallow whole. I don’t believe that they are able to chew and I see them as basically holding and manipulation the food with the mandibles and using the four lower teeth to “rake” the food into their…..Oropharynx.? I guess? For lack of a better word .
Tatsu, I think you’re on the right track with the talon theory, except for one thing, talons “crush” not rip. The mandibles could very well repeatedly crush, puncture and break food down and the smaller lower teeth sort of “rake” off these broken parts, which the Predator would then swallow whole.
~Estelle

Now that's a theory that makes more sense.
 
I always imagined Predator's ate like a Scorpion. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chelicerae http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chelicerata Something like that, from the few comics I did read, I do remember one Predator holding a decapitated human head inbetween his mandibles while he was killing someone else. (good way to hold a trophy when you're busy!) Far as the use of their teeth go, I assume standard practice of chewing the food while its held in their mandible claws would be standard practice, with the possibility of digestive acids being used to liquidify anything too tough. If I remember right, insects with mouths like that also use them to push food into their mouth so the swallowing things whole theory is quite possible since we have seen that the Predator's mouth is capable of quite extreme stretching for roaring.

So with that in mind, I assume they eat anything and everything, much like a human would in order to survive. Where as we look down on cannibalism , it might be the same to them. So the chances of them eating actual humanoids, would probably be slim unless there was no other source of food for survival. But any other meat or plant or insect would be fair game. The reason some Predators would or wouldn't have both top and bottom set of teeth could be purely their clan line, a world where they either had no need for those teeth to evole, or possibly just lost them and they're in a regrowth proceess, and even the possibility of completely hiding the teeth until they are needed much like a snake and its fangs.
 
ok so every one agrees, predators about never eat human,
and use their mandables to push the food into their mouth.


Biologically, the Predators seem to have very large and powerful mandibles, but a relatively small and weak mouth. In terrestrial animals, that is usually a sign that the organism uses the mandibles to hold and tear prey, and excretes digestive juices onto it that turn it into a pulp that is then sucked up into the mouth (examples--scorpions, tarantulas and other spiders). It also, generally, means that the fangs are used to inject venom, usually to paralyze the prey and perhaps to begin the digestion process.

Can the Yautja possibly have a venomous bite . . .? Most animals with fangs do. And a paralyzing neurotoxic venom would allow Yautja to kill and eat prey that is much larger than they are, with just a single bite. Seems a good adaptation for a predatory animal with a high metabolism, active lifestyle, and hence large appetite (as the Yautja seem to have). So to me, that's the explanation that seems to make the most biological sense.

As an aside, whoever thought up the entire concept of the Xenomorph knew a great deal about insect biology. Not only the shedding exoskeleton and the acidic blood (the fact that bugs have acidic blood is why they take the paint off your car when you run into them), but even the weird-looking jaw-within-a-jaw is found in dragonfly larvae, and the life cycle of injecting oneself into hosts is pretty common for parasitic insects (and it's not even unknown for insects to paralyze their prey and seal it in a nest or retreat where they lay eggs, to provide hosts for the newly-hatched young).

What IS biologically unlikely is the idea that the parasite can pick up biological characteristics from its host (such as the Pred-Alien developing mandibles by growing inside a Predator body). That would require the manipulation of DNA (or whatever the Xenomorph equivalent of DNA is), through a chemical interaction with the host's DNA (or DNA-equivalent). And that would be extremely unlikely, given that organisms that evolve on different worlds are unlikely to have compatible, or even remotely similar, DNA. (That is one problem with the whole "space-aliens-are-kidnapping-humans-so-they-can-make-hybrids idea ---- our DNA is no more likely to be useful or compatible with a space alien's than a petunia's or a slime mold's.)
 
Can the Yautja possibly have a venomous bite . . .? Most animals with fangs do. And a paralyzing neurotoxic venom would allow Yautja to kill and eat prey that is much larger than they are, with just a single bite. Seems a good adaptation for a predatory animal with a high metabolism, active lifestyle, and hence large appetite (as the Yautja seem to have). So to me, that's the explanation that seems to make the most biological sense.


Now there's a thought. But here's something that I've been thinking... Hope yer ready for a biology lesson! There's in fact a reptile alive on OUR planet that has a venomous bite, without any venom, causing massive blood poisoning just because of its diet and is an integral part of how they hunt. And unless our dear friends, the Yautja, spend all morning brushing their teeth (Doubtful since in the book AVP: Hunter's planet, Machiko mentions that they have VERY poor hygiene), may very well have the same ability. The animal I'm speaking of is the komodo dragon. Unlike most other reptiles, these predators are big enough to take down some serious prey. Also, they will eat pretty much anything they can get their claws on. Invertebrates, other reptiles (including smaller Komodo dragons), birds, bird eggs, small mammals, monkeys, wild boar, goats, deer, horses, water buffalo, and yes; even humans.

Due to this type of diet, researchers at the University of Texas found more than 55 different strains of bacteria growing in the mouths of different komodo dragons. What this means is one bite and someone or something that doesn't get immediate medical attention will die. True, it may take up to a for the prey animal to die, but that brings us to the next part. These reptiles will spend that time hunting the animal they bit. Doesn't matter how far the animal goes, the dragon that bit it will eventually hunt it down and finish the job.

Now, let's look at the Yautja. In Predator 2, they say that he eats the beef, obviously raw. And in AVP: Hunter's Planet, Machiko says that they ate all their food raw. Now, picture them doing that on every planet they visit. Who knows what kind of bacteria they have growing inside them?


Now, that we're on this page, here's another thought. What if the Yautja got their start this way? Look at this: These dragons at this point in evolution not only wait and ambush prey, but they inflict a mortal wound on the prey and then track the prey for miles. Can you imagine what kind of being these things have the potential of becoming down the road? (If they don't become extinct, of course) Hell, they could potentially become something like a real life Yautja.

Sorry if it seemed like I got off topic, but I thought it was relevant to what was said...
 
Now there's a thought. But here's something that I've been thinking... Hope yer ready for a biology lesson! There's in fact a reptile alive on OUR planet that has a venomous bite, without any venom, causing massive blood poisoning just because of its diet and is an integral part of how they hunt. And unless our dear friends, the Yautja, spend all morning brushing their teeth (Doubtful since in the book AVP: Hunter's planet, Machiko mentions that they have VERY poor hygiene), may very well have the same ability. The animal I'm speaking of is the komodo dragon.


In point of accuracy, monitor lizards (and the Komodo is just a big monitor lizard) DO produce a mild venom in their saliva. Indeed, not only do the varanids produce venom, but so do the Iguaniid family (which includes both the little Anolis lizards that we see running around Florida as well as the common green iguana). DNA analysis indicates that varanid lizards, iguaniid lizards, and snakes, all share a common ancestor (an ancestor that had the ability to produce venom).

And indeed I do think it entirely plausible, from a biological point of view, that Yautja evolved as ambush predators who struck their prey from cover, then tracked it for long distances. As they tackled larger and more dangerous prey, they became better stalkers and hunters, allowing them to get in that one deadly bite. And once they acquired their hunting technology, what was once a serious survival strategy, turned into a sport.
 
In point of accuracy, monitor lizards (and the Komodo is just a big monitor lizard) DO produce a mild venom in their saliva. Indeed, not only do the varanids produce venom, but so do the Iguaniid family (which includes both the little Anolis lizards that we see running around Florida as well as the common green iguana). DNA analysis indicates that varanid lizards, iguaniid lizards, and snakes, all share a common ancestor (an ancestor that had the ability to produce venom).

And indeed I do think it entirely plausible, from a biological point of view, that Yautja evolved as ambush predators who struck their prey from cover, then tracked it for long distances. As they tackled larger and more dangerous prey, they became better stalkers and hunters, allowing them to get in that one deadly bite. And once they acquired their hunting technology, what was once a serious survival strategy, turned into a sport.

Here's the thing about the "Venom" The reason they call it that, is because the komodo secretes an enzyme that contains several different toxic proteins. What these do is act as an anticoagulant, meaning that it disrupts the victim's ability to clot. On the other hand, another effect of these proteins is a lowered heart rate, meaning whatever it is, is NOT going to be bleeding all that fast. Now, if you look at it, those twol can pretty much cancel each other out. Unfortunately, it wouldn't really help the dragon out that much since in lab tests, the worst of these lasted only a few hours, meaning that the dragon wouldn't really be able to rely on this "venom" to do the job for it.

But back to the main subject... Who knows, maybe the Yautja continue to hunt this way. I mean, we only see them hunting for sport. Maybe hunting for food animals is different than hunting trophies? Who's ta say that they don't reserve their weaponry for beings who are either dangerous or intelligent? I couldn't see one of them huntin' their version of a deer with a combi stick or burner. Heh. Just somethin' ta think about.
 
What a fun topic, outside of the usual folk lore available here is what I think.

For food, I think that they could eat both plant and animal proteins. The eating of meat was probably done by pulling flesh with their hands while raking with the smaller teeth. They would then stuff it down their mouths with either their hands or mandibles. Further processing of food stuffs probably takes place in the esophagus. Where as we pulverize our food in our mouths they do it in their esophagus.
(Anatomy note: the esophagus is the passage which food moves between the throat and the stomach. Could be the same for them.?)

On a ship or on their home planet, I would think they have prepared foods as well as fresh. Raw food breaks down quickly unless preserved or cooked in some manner. This is true for both plant and animal products. On a hunt I think they eat what they can if they didn’t bring anything with them. Eating of their prey in my opinion doesn’t happen amongst the “Honor Bound” Hunters. Now, bad bloods, other renegades and or half breads might....
 
Something else I just thought of, they might favor the taste of Skins over actual Meat too. Think about that, other than the fear tactic to use on humans, what else would the Pred do with the skin? It's great to peel off the trophies & I'll bet to them it's sustenance on the Battlefield..

God, that didn't sound depraved & disgusting at all did it? Oh wait, I'm on a Predator Discussion forum, Spinal Decapitation is normal around here.


They could just wear the skin 'Silence of the lambs' style.
Since they dont know how to say in any human language:

"it puts the lotion on its skin else it gets the hose again"

 
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