Talk:Scavenger

Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment
This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 5 September 2018 and 28 November 2018. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Spc13. Peer reviewers: Sjh1917, TallGuy117.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 08:44, 17 January 2022 (UTC)

This page is currently discussing two different topics: the feeding mode of certain animals and a means of livelihood of some persons. The latter is also discussed on a different page, waste picker, so I would like to move that information from this page to there. What do people think?Justinleif 01:30, 14 March 2007 (UTC)
 * I'd say go for it, especially since there is a page already, though it'll turn this poor page into a stub. Either that or merge that one here, though that could get confusing. -Bbik 06:44, 14 March 2007 (UTC)

The page seems to be broken. I tried to revert the last change (I wasn't logged, sorry), but an admin re-reverted it. Why? --Manfroze 20:01, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

Dubious - Reference to Travelling Long Distances
Can someone check the references in the article for support for this quote:
 * "Such behavior is still witnessed today with men traveling great lengths at high speeds in order to avoid paying full price for food, preferring to scavenge out of the bins of the moderately wealthy."

The phrasing seems unusual... twilsonb (talk) 21:34, 23 August 2009 (UTC)

scavengers
i am a student of class 7c.i am from school st.mary's convent high school.i have got a project on survey of scavengers.i have the job of writing questionnaire on scavengers.please if u can then send the answer on this computer.by the way my name is sejal.R.wagh. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 114.143.46.166 (talk) 15:49, 13 September 2009 (UTC)

Graphic Pictures
Should this page maybe have a warning about the graphic pictures? I mean those guys're pulling that horses skin off with their hands... And the cameras aimed at the inside of the horse. I don't know if Wikipedia has a style guideline on marking pages with graphic content or not, but I imagine there's rules about it somewhere. --illumi (talk) 18:16, 23 June 2010 (UTC)
 * Wikipedia is not censored. "Graphic" images, if illustrating the article content are acceptable. Boneyard90 (talk) 00:40, 9 July 2011 (UTC)

Etymology
Just popping in to compliment whoever wrote the Etymology section. It's fantastic. 24.130.190.8 (talk) 05:51, 22 May 2015 (UTC)

Removal of referenced section on humans
I have reverted the removal of referenced material on stomach acidity in humans as a contributing factor in the lack of necrophagy. The reference does indicate scavengers have a much higher level of acidity. Ifnord (talk) 19:06, 4 January 2020 (UTC)

Please show where it says scavengers have much higher level of acidity. Andrew Harres (talk) 22:45, 4 January 2020 (UTC)
 * From the reference, figure 1, "Different letters above error bars represent statistically significant differences (P < 0.05) using ANOVA and Tukey-Kramer post-hoc test. Obligate scavengers (1.3 ± 0.08), facultative scavengers (1.8 ± 0.27), generalist carnivore (2.2 ± 0.44), omnivore (2.9 ± 0.33), specialist carnivore (3.6 ± 0.51), hindgut herbivore (4.1 ± 0.38) and foregut herbivore (6.1 ± 0.31)." The actual illustration in the article conveys this quite clearly. Ifnord (talk) 01:38, 5 January 2020 (UTC)

I believe you're misinterpreting figure 1. That chart simply categorizes these groups by the animal's natural feeding behavior, grouping humans with omnivores and displaying the typical stomach acid. If you read the article and look at table 1, this all becomes very clear.

"It is interesting to note that humans, uniquely among the primates so far considered, appear to have stomach pH values more akin to those of carrion feeders than to those of most carnivores and omnivores."

"Baboons (Papio spp) have been argued to exhibit the most human–like of feeding and foraging strategies in terms of eclectic omnivory, but their stomachs–while considered generally acidic (pH = 3.7)–do not exhibit the extremely low pH seen in modern humans (pH = 1.5) [38]. One explanation for such acidity may be that carrion feeding was more important in humans (and more generally hominin) evolution than currently considered to be the case (although see [39])."

Excerpts from table 1:
 * Mammalia   Artiodactyla       brocket deer            Mazama sp.                         herbivore/foregut              5.5
 * Mammalia   Artiodactyla       hippo                   Hippopotamus amphibius             herbivore/hindgut              4.4
 * Mammalia   Primates           baboon                  Papio cynocephalus                 omnivore                       3.7
 * Aves       Galliformes        chicken                 Gallus gallus domesticus           specialist carnivore/Insect    3.7
 * Mammalia   Primates           humans                  Homo sapiens                       omnivore                       1.5
 * Aves       Falconiformes      peregrine falcon        Falco peregrinus                   facultative scavenger          1.8
 * Aves       Strigiformes       snowy owl               Nyctea scandiaca                   generalist carnivore           2.5
 * Aves       Accipitriformes    white backed vulture    Gyps africanus                     obligate scavenger             1.2
 * Mammalia   Artiodactyla       sheep                   Ovis aries                         herbivore/foregut              4.7
 * Mammalia   Perissodactyla     horse                   Equus ferus caballus               herbivore/hindgut              4.4
 * Mammalia   Carnivora          dog                     Canis lupus familiaris (beagle)    facultative scavenger          4.5
 * Mammalia   Carnivora          cat                     Felis catus                        generalist carnivore           3.6

Andrew Harres (talk) 02:14, 5 January 2020 (UTC)

Problem with the definition
The article defines scavengers as "animals that consume dead organisms that have died from causes other than predation." Many of the most familiar scavengers feed largely on organisms that have been killed by predation. For example, readers will be familiar with images of vultures picking at the carcass of a zebra that has been killed, and partly consumed, by lions: is that not scavenging?

And yet by that definition, scavenging applies where it is not usually thought to: if adults of a species feed dependent young with what they have foraged, is the offspring a scavenger?

Is every human who consumes meat from a catering outlet or shop a scavenger? They are eating an organism that dies from a cause other than predation. Is eating in a fancy restaurant really scavenging? Kevin McE (talk) 11:51, 19 May 2020 (UTC)

Incomplete information
The article says: The interaction between scavenging animals and humans is seen today most commonly in suburban settings with animals such as opossums, polecats and raccoons. It is not clear what dead animals opossums, polecats, and raccoons eat or how this activity constitutes interaction with humans. Also, opossums and raccoons are also founding urban settings. I know because I live in one that has them. Rmrwiki (talk) 06:29, 7 December 2022 (UTC)

Necrophagy = Scavenging ?
wikilink Necrophagy inside the text returns back to the current article; if so and provided the above equation is valid; then intro sentence should include Scavenger or necrophagy in some form. no? Araz Zeyniyev (talk) 12:01, 9 February 2023 (UTC)