>Ward Nicholson wrote:
>
>> Granted that primates eat insects, but "prodigious" amounts? How about a
>>reference for that statement? I'm skeptical. Could you give a rough
>> translation in terms of the percent of diet that "prodigous" equates to?
>>5% of diet? 10%? 20? 30%? How much is "prodigious"?

Ray "replied":
>As insects must store reserves for times when food is scarce or to get
>through metamorphisis, they are very high in fat.  Much higher as a
>percentage than higher life forms.  Thus their caloric values far exceed
>their weight as a percentage of total diet.

Huh? Insects vary in macronutrient composition, but few are fattier than
commercial meats. Ward asked for percentages, didn't he?

>As the insect population
>outweighs all the other animal life in the rainforest combined by several
>times they are the most reliable form of food a primate can find.  Before
>grooming they eat the ones on their own body that they can reach, this is
>more difficult to observe than grooming.  As I mentioned, several species
>alive today eat no vegetable food at all!

So, do you eat insects? Do you groom yourself or others? ;)

Seriously, I don't think anyone is doubting that many primates eat insects.
Percentages? Research?

>> >bugs are animportant component to all Primate diets and zookeepers have
>>found that most Primates are incapable of reproduction unless this
>requirement is met.

And does your reference include humans as primates?

>National Geographic had a segment on breeding Lion Headed Marmosets at
>the National Zoo in Washington DC.  Perhaps they can help your research.

Gosh, Ray, he asked you to reference your cavalier statements and you are
telling him to research it!

>I live and hunt everyday on the semitropical savannahs that surround
>Dallas, TX.  Even though edible weeds (introduced by plowing) abound you
>would still starve to death if you tried to survive on a predominatly
>plant diet (esp. after 56 days above 100 degrees-did I mention it's hot
>here?).  Our very mild wet season is not much better for salad fixins.

Who was supposing that we eat a vegan diet? Certainly not Ward in the post
I saw.

>BTW, the red meat eating physiological adaptations mentioned in the
>chapter "Man as Created by Nature" are observed in all Hominid species.
>See the first reference in my bibliography at my web site.

Again, who is doubtoing that humans are adapted to meat?

>I was not flaming Hitler or any other vegetarian.  I am merely pointing
>out that because I hunt everyday doesn't make me any more blood thirsty
>than Ghandi whose political decision to partition India knowingly (by his
>own words) led to the deaths of millions (the revenge of which was his
>own asasination).

And who exactly on this list has called you bloodthirsty?

>I'm not trying to offend, but as George Custer could have told you,
>sometimes hunter-gatherers are a little hard to deal with.

Who would you be offending?

I'm rather taken aback that you would respond this way to Ward's post. He
is not arguing for veganism or calling you another Hitler. He simply asked
for references and additional statistics/clarification for some statements
you made as facts.

Chers,
Kirt

Secola  /\  Nieft
[log in to unmask]