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Imagine being hunted and killed by a team of power walkers.
The predators:
You know, this is actually the type of fear that the zombie horror genre really reverses back on us. Classic zombies are not fast. They’re not smart. They can’t run, climb, or plan elaborate traps. They have no sharp claws or terrifyingly large teeth. You can outrun them at a brisk walk.
But what makes them so dangerous is that they’re relentless. If they get your scent, they’ll follow you and keep following you. Blow their legs off and they’ll crawl towards you. Remove all their limbs and they’ll slither like a snake towards you. Only destroying their brain can stop them.
If you’re on foot, it is virtually impossible to escape them, as they’ll just keep on coming. And while you need to sleep, they don’t. They can just keep right on shuffling towards you 24/7. If on foot being chased by a zombie, your best bet is probably to find a river you can swim across that will sweep them away. Oh, and of course, they are rarely alone.
Zombies are predators that turn our species’s natural hunting strategy back upon us.
Similarly the Terminator is ceaseless but does run, jump, climb etc. Our own hunting strategy, but perfected by machines. Even more tireless and persistent.
Not really related, but it makes me sad that this isn’t easily possible in Project Zomboid. It’s the exact sort of feeling I want from it.
I’m kind of surprised considering there’s a massive mod scene. Not even with a custom difficulty mode?
I’m sure there’s a combination out there that would get what I’m looking for. I just haven’t found it yet, and a lot of the scene (especially what gets coverage by youtubers) seem to be focused on increasing difficulty by making individual zombies more threatening (night sprinters, randomizers, adding different “zany” zombie types) or adding environmental hazards (nuclear fallout, airborne virus, eternal winter).
Could you not adjust the settings so zombies see/hear you very easily and from far away, as well as making hordes a bigger amount for the feeling of being hunted by a pack? I haven’t played the recent unstable versions so idk if they added other things that zombies can do to find you, like smell or whatnot
You can adjust settings, and I do, but once you clear an area if you stay near the area the options are either “randomly spawn in zombies where you’ve cleared” (ignoring whether a zombie could actually path there or not, last I tested it) or “no more zombies”. There’s no built in way I know of to simulate a glob coming in from the edges of your safe zone if the edges are farther out than the limit of cells it simulates around you.
I could probably get something together with the horde night mod. Just haven’t had time to tinker lately.
That’s odd, I remember reading about the feature that makes it so zombies naturally fill in empty cells from other cells, but maybe I misunderstood?
I do agree that the random spawning zombies can be dumb if you’re coming back to your completely secure and isolated base only to find zombies inside
How many drugs does it take to outrun a scent-seeking zombie?
2
I thought it was the swarm that was what is so dangerous rather than being relentless. A single zombie is usually shown as weak and pretty easy to kill.
Pursuit predation/persistence hunting has to be one of the most metal characteristics about humans.
https://ourworldindata.org/quaternary-megafauna-extinction
The timing of megafauna extinctions was not consistent across the world; instead, the timing of their demise coincided closely with the arrival of humans on each continent.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
You’re missing a \.
There have been many extinction events in Earth’s history. There have been five big mass extinction events and several smaller ones.
There have now been many studies focused on the question of whether humans were a key driver of the QME. Many suggest that the answer is yes. Climatic changes might have driven an initial decline in large mammal populations — small population crashes — but human pressures are likely to have thwarted their recovery. Large mammals survived previous periods of climatic change, but the arrival of humans put pressure on already-depleted populations.
\ is the escape character in markdown. Gotta do a double \ and then another \ for the underscore
¯\\\_(ツ)_/¯ =¯\_(ツ)_/¯
(°▽°)/
I’m assuming this menu is specific to the Voyager app rather than to Lemmy itself:
Oh, I never knew this was a thing (also Voyager user), thanks!
Now I got it, thank you
¯\_(:3)_/¯
(ง’̀-‘́)ง
Also our accuracy and reach when throwing stuff.
Especially when combined with our ability to make stuff sharp by banging it against other stuff and breaking it just the right way.
And THEN add to that that once you got hit with the spear and are running slower, a wolf just appears and starts hunting you too.
Imagine being hunted by 2 different apex predators working together
Then later in history…
An hawk flies down and attacks you, joining the wolves and the humans. They’ve got the fucks birds in on it now! God is dead.
I went on a hike and a coyote started hunting me on the last mile back to the car. I carry at least a large stick when I hike now.
Coyotes don’t hunt humans, though it may have been receiving food from other hikers which could cause that behavior.
'Yotes ain’t so proud as to not scavenge a human encampment when no one was looking…
Shit that’s scary. I’m glad to be living in Central Europe. Scariest thing here is the Rabbit of Caerbannog (a.k.a. the Legendary Black Beast of Arrrghhh)
I live where we have plenty of wolves and black bears around. Even a cougar or two now. Ain’t a one of them that like being around a human. Much like crocodiles and hippos, the crocs understand that if you mess with a baby hippo, a much large hippo WILL turn you into a nice pair of shoes, a purse, and a brief case in a heartbeat.
Though to be honest, there are a couple of places I’ve bumped a cougar and seen tracks that when I go there alone, I do carry a pistol for self defense. Cats ain’t smart and it’s always better to have a means to be safe than sorry.
Atlanta!!! Here’s a random video i haven’t watched about it. The Atlanta doubles your spear throwing range https://youtu.be/YT_s1CEAhkA
Do you mean atlatl or do people in American Georgia just throw real good?
I like your version better
Ah yes, there is a surprisingly common mutation in Georgia that causes humans to be born with an additional elbow and forearm on each arm. The Atlanta mutation it is commonly called. This is why, famously, people born in the state of Georgia are prohibited from participating in any Olympic event that involves throwing or hurling objects.
Atlanta!!!
Atlatl. Or simply spear-thrower.
It’s a bit like a fing-longer, but for your whole arm, and therefore more useful.
Same principle as the sling: they make your arm longer so the “hand” moves faster when you swing it, allowing you to throw stuff at higher and more lethal speeds, and farther.
We’re still quite lethal even without these tools though, just look at baseball pitchers.
Atlanta. Dyac 🤦♂️
That would be a terrifying way to die.
Wasn’t that the premise of the Slenderman video game?
What I never got about this theory is, fine, you run after the Ptadgedrwgydon for 87kms, when it gives up due to exhaustion and you kill it with a stone. What now? You’re 87kms away with a carcass that weighs 500kg, how do you get back the food to the tribe?
The tribe can walk.
This is how we learned to be nomads. Kill big thing, bring camp to big thing, hang out until big thing is all eaten.
This is how Komodo Dragons hunt, too.
Group hunting for mega-fauna. Partial field-processing of remains, beyond a dressing.
idk, moose hunters might still. Is there a moose hunter at the forum today…?
Moose hunters just shoot them these days. The only time anyone is running any more is when they are headed to a charger for their phone because the charge is down to 10%
I figured they chased them in a big circle. Or did laps. Or anything other than a completely straight line.
I can imagine… “You, c*nt! Would you mind turning left a bit? Thanks!”
Can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic but yeah. Head them off in the direction you want them to go, just like sheepdogs do.
Also our accuracy and reach when throwing stuff.
Especially when combined with our ability to make stuff sharp by banging it against other stuff and breaking it just the right way.
Humans’ ability to sweat is something outstanding.
That what I keep saying, but people still seem thoroughly unimpressed by my ability to sweat profusely the moment I get a little hot!
Interviewer: What would you say is your biggest strength?
Me:
Sweating is such a powerful ability for humans when compared to the animal kingdom. I mean, not only does my sweat keep me cool, I can clear out an entire room with it if it’s a little too hot!
Unless it’s a 100% humidity day with a heat index above what is typical
It’s just that we’re so powerful, we need the extra cooling!
The other advantage we have while running is that we’re not constantly slamming our intestines into our other vital organs and lungs because we’re upright.
Humans can out-distance a horse. A fucking HORSE. Incredible animal the oul’ human.
Humans can out-distance a horse
Speak for yourself, I cannot out distance a hamster lately.
Oh I am most definitely not speaking for myself. Neigh. Not one bit.
I think that’s mostly down to our comparatively sedentary lifestyle though. Skinny AF, fit because I’ve had to run down a horse once a week and mid-20’s me could hopefully out-distance a horse. A small cow anyway.
Neigh. Not one bit.
Are you a horse?
Neigh.
Is that really a limiting factor for animals that are not upright? They have to stop going because their intestines slam into other vital organs, and they need a break, lest they get damaged?
One big advantage is that we can run while breathing out of sync with our steps. Four legged running pretty much requires each inhale and exhale to sync with the compression and expansion of the torso with each stride. Humans, on the other hand, can run full speed while taking multiple steps per breath, depending on terrain and fatigue, which gives more options for pacing.
Interesting, that dynamic is in line with the ‘radiator’ theory of human brain evolution.
From a more recent article:
the shift to an aerobic, hunter-gatherer lifestyle in early Homo, including long-distance running, exerted selection pressures that favored both increased endurance and enhanced brain growth
Edit: … so, we’re not batteries. We’re cooling fins.
I saw it in a documentary but it was a good while ago so to be honest I can’t remember what the exact mechanism was or if it was just a contributing factor over longer distances. I just remember storing it away as little nugget that made sense when presented.
It’s very late here and now you have me curious so I’ll probably have a dig around in the morning.
Edit: I don’t think it’s the break thing though. Organ damage is definitely better than death if you’re being chased.
Persistence predation is the only way I can manage to take my cats to the vet.
Did you try just picking them up and having a towel or blanket underneath in case they want to dig their claws into something, and hand in their shoulders in case they try to escape? That’s what Ive done for years and it is so much less stressful on everyone involved.
The problem is getting a hold of them in the first place. They just bolt from one hiding place to another, and I say “hiding place” but they’re not as much “hidden” as “hard to reach when you are a human-sized human”. The only reason I eventually manage to catch them is that ambush predators get tired quicker than persistence predators.
How do they know youre taking them to the vet?
The hate being picked up in general, even if there is no threat of vet, so they’ll struggle to get out of my arms and if they succeed - I’ve lost the element of surprise.
Also - I have two cats, and if I need to take both to vet then even if I manage to place one in a carrier he’ll alert the other that something is wrong.
Mine know that it’s vet time the second i get the transport boxes out of storage. I have to be pretty silent while they sleep so they don’t notice that, or else i have to use persistance predation too.
e: a possible workaround is to store the transport boxes in different places everytime, but my options are limited.
Take them nice places in the box.
I’m gonna wine and dine them next time :-)
Hey I don’t have cats so it might be a bit different, but I’ve had a few dogs over the years and I figure it would be similar. Your cats probably associate the carriers with going to the vet which it sounds like they’re not a fan of. Their thought process is probably carrier = vet = no thank you.
Have you tried to put them into the carrier without actually taking them to the vet? Drop some treats in there, let them explore it at their own pace, close it for a minute or two, and then either reward or praise them after release? Keep progressing to the point that treats are no longer required to lure them and they enter on their own, but still reward them on release. Rinse and repeat (and repeat and repeat and repeat). Over time they may change their attitude towards the carrier their mindset may turn into carrier = treats and praise.
If they’re not food motivated you may have to use alternate bait such as toys or nip.
I often let the carriers stand outside, and they even sleep in them. i must be giving off other vibes when i take them out for the doc visit.
No transport box. You just put blanket in your arms and pick the cat up, carry it to the car.
we have no car and use public transport. its a short ride, about 10 minutes bus and 10 minutes walk time, or about 40 minutes walking only (while carrying a cat in a box).
I didn’t have a car in my entire life, because public transport in my city (Vienna) has great interval times, are nearly always clean and cheap to ride; long distance i prefer trains.
You cant take the cat on the bus?
I was playing tag with my kid yesterday. He’s 3, almost 4. He’s very fast for his age, but not as fast as me. He asked to play tag because he just learned it in school. I could dodge to the side as he was getting close and change direction. I could fake him out. I could sprint to the other side of our 1 acre meadow to creat space. But he just kept coming. Smiling and laughing the whole time. I’m starting to get winded. Hands on my knees for a second after a sprint, but only for a second as he’s closed the gap already. His undeterred motivation and pace was scary. He was going to get me eventually, and he seemed to know it.
I now know how the victims of Chucky must have felt.
We are the snail
isnt this a diprotodon, which is the largest marsupial in australia, in the vombatiforms.
For some reason I read that as vomitiform (I bet I know how they fought)
It just means wombat-shaped, the w was changed to v in a half-arsed effort to Latinise it (despite -form coming from Greek anyway).
are romans just vampires is that how latin works
Fun fact: the guy who first proposed this “running man” hypothesis about persistence hunting in the late 1960s (Grover Krantz) was better known as a staunch advocate for the existence of Bigfoot. Personally, I can’t believe that anybody could still believe in Bigfoot - it’s so obviously just a Yeti in a gorilla suit.
For some weird reason, Krantz’s skeleton and that of his favorite dog are on display at the Smithsonian.
The father of modern day physics changed course and started studying alchemy, chronology, biblical interpretation, losing himself to mysticism. He’d probably research big foot if he was alive as well. That doesn’t mean I’m going to dismiss his real magnum opus
Contrary to modern-day physics, the “persistence hunting” thing is very much not a scientific consensus. It’s more of a fringe idea supported by hardly any science that somehow made it into popular science.
There’s about as much credible evidence to that theory as there is to the theory that eating chocolate helps with losing weight.
Wikipedia politely labels persistence hunting as “conjecture”. It’s interesting that pretty much everything important from our ancestral past (e.g. fire-making, flint-napping tools, spears, skins and furs etc.) can be and regularly is reproduced by modern people. But somehow you never see modern people jogging down deer and killing them - even with the benefits of modern footwear, portable water containers, a carbohydrate-rich diet for energy, and GPS trackers.
somehow made it into popular science
The “somehow” as far as I can tell is the David Attenborough documentary bit that supposedly shows a Khoi-San hunter doing it. Richard Lee and a team of Harvard anthropologists extensively studied the !Kung (a Khoi-San people) during the '60s and '70s and there was never a mention in any of the literature this produced about these people engaging in persistence hunting. What they did describe was the practice of hunting with poisoned spears and arrows and then tracking the wounded, poisoned animal for days until it dropped and could be butchered. Needless to say, this is not persistence hunting.
The popular anthropologist Marvin Harris also featured Krantz’ work is his final book Our Kind (which is where I first heard of it), but I don’t think enough people read that book for it to have been the source of the idea’s current popularity.
That thing does look pretty tasty.
its a diprodont, which related to a womat, it is the largest marsupial to ever live, like 5000lbs.
5k lbs? Probably not all that tasty but it’s going to feed all of us for a major feast weekend!
probably tastes like a wombat
They’re still on my list are they good
… brb
Inside you there are two snails…
Only thing to do now is turn around and chomp 'em!
