Friday 29 October 2010

Walking Dead - Pity the Zombie


As if we didn't have enough to be afraid of , now we have stuff like Zombies? Well in fact no and here's why.

Lets assume that the processes of autolysis and putrifaction are magically slowed in the dead body ( though not stopped as Zombie always seem pretty rank! )
Then we have say 150lb of stinking meat just ringing the lunchbell to every carrion eater out there and there are a LOT of those!
First we get Blow Flies and various types of Flesh Flies that lay eggs. The maggots then run riot throughout the cadaver, breaking down tissue and exposing the internal cavities to oxygen and more flesh flies. The various gasses emitted by the body are going to attract larger scavengers like Rats, Crows and Dogs. The Zombie may be mobile but it's motor functions are deteriorating swiftly under the onslaught. The corpse is losing mass fast, due to the torrent of maggots and flies feeding off it, the loss of liquids and now bits of putrifying flesh are being ripped off by opportunistic fauna too. Realistically our poor misbegotten Zombie pal has a couple of days of functional existence before the body deteriorates beyond usefulness. Thusly any Zombie threat would be neutralised by just not leaving home for a long weekend. Admittedly you would have a serious Rat and Bluebottle problem for a while, but they would die back as the food source literally dries up. Have a nice day.

4 comments:

  1. (pushes glasses up bridge of nose)

    In most zombie literature, animals know not to eat these mobile carcasses because they are infected meat. Given that their very existence stems from a re-animating agent, it's also often surmised that the decay and loss of motor functions in zombies are delayed.

    Good day, love the perspective and action in your drawing.

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  2. An excellent point, well made. I'm still keeping a sharpened spade under my bed just in case though.

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  3. Well thought out zombie hypothesis, Simon. Me likey.

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