Shadedhollow - To Den And Roost

Hi this is a positivity post regarding alterhuman diet dysphoria versus actual biology

(unless you already know these things)

To herbivore nonhumans who don't want to/can't do a vegan or vegetarian diet but feel dysphoric about being able to digest meat:

Herbivorous animals are not unable to digest meat.

Animal matter is actually easier for a body to process than plant matter, and herbivorous species need very complex digestive systems in order to support their lifestyles. This is why cows have four stomachs; why horses practically go into critical system failure if they get even a little bit sick. Animals that live mostly by grazing actually still do need nutrients that carnivores and omnivores get through their natural diets, which is why farming supply stores sell salt licks for animals. In the wild herbivores will quite often find ways to sneak some meat into their diets by eating bugs or small vertebrates, if you didn't already know about the fun fact of deer eating baby birds. "Obligate herbivore" meaning an animal that can ONLY physically digest plants is not a real ecological term the way "obligate carnivore" meaning animal that can ONLY physically digest meat is, though you might see it in other usages (i.e., referring to an animal that relies on a plant-based diet for all of its nutrients).

If a wild deer was given access to human society, they would probably not opt for veganism for connection with their true species; they would more likely appreciate having a way to get sodium so easily. This isn't to shame anyone who does choose a vegan/vegetarian diet for species euphoria reasons, but more to reassure folks who can't, you aren't less of an herbivore.

To carnivore nonhumans who feel dysphoric that their body can't digest raw meat like wild carnivores can:

It can!

The reason you don't want to be eating raw meat like a wolf or stoat or monitor lizard is because you will get sick or you will contract a parasite, which might sound like just a different reason to feel disconnected from your species, but here's the main two things:

1. The actuality is that wild wolves and stoats and monitor lizards DO get sick and contract parasites. This is often how wolves and stoats and monitor lizards die in the wild and why ones in captivity, being fed parasite-free meat and having illnesses treated, live longer. There are raw meats you can eat safely, you just have to know where they're sourced from and that they're guaranteed not to have risks! That's why sushi is a thing, and why people say you can technically eat raw cut (not ground) beef but not pork or chicken. Cooked meat is also often tastier and easier for the body to process (cit.: Grug et al. 780,000 BCE) so that's why humans have loved their medium-well steak since they came up with it. And 2. wild predators are "able to eat raw meat" mostly because they killed it, so it's fresh and hasn't been sitting around able to pick up bacteria, the way raw meat you get at a grocery store would have. This is why a lot of prey animals have a "play dead" defense mechanism: most predators do not want to eat something that's already dead, because it might get them sick.

If a wild owl was given access to human society, they would probably not desire only the rawest of meats for connection with their true species; they would more likely appreciate having access to food that had all the pathogens cleaned and/or scorched out of it.

unhinged thirty days of otherkin challenge, day 6: does your kintype migrate?

no migrating. i think we go into dormancy with the forest in the colder months. i wish i could go into dormancy in this human shape... big nap.

day 7: sleepy or awakey?

in the hottest and coldest times of the year i am. sleepy. when the weather is milder, i am awakey!

Young Chincoteague ponies wrestle on Chincoteague Island, part of Virginia’s Eastern Shore, in the 1970s.

PHOTOGRAPH BY JAMES L. STANFIELD, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION

source

I’m done with all the shippable packages! Here’s my little bonus thank you for my backers!

unhinged thirty days of otherkin challenge, day 17: are you bitey?

i was going to say no, but...

i've been jokingly referring to my masks as muzzles for a while now. when i get irritated with customers at work i imagine biting them rather than, like. hitting them. i offer to bite people for my coworkers and friends.

i think it's safe to say i'm bitey.

Hever Castle, Kent, England, June 2024.

(LI HUI | Flickr)

Shout out to those of us who awakened as adults! I didn't realize I'm a bison until I was almost 18 and I didn't have my fictionkind awakening until I was 21

Watkins Glen by Jeffrey Jones