But morocanth are NOT tapirs. They are not even sentient Tapirs. I'm not even convinced they're perissodactyls.
>Comparing them to pigs is incorrect.
Their dentition and diet are piglike, not their taxonomy.
>Sandy's an omnivore: let's see _him_ eat a dead sheep without tools
Why? Morocanth don't eat dead sheep without tools. Neither do rats, pigs, armadillos, or a host of other omnivores.
>how do Morokanth butcher and eat herd-men and other herd animals?"
Do they have >tearing and ripping teeth to remove flesh from bone?
Do they wait till it's >good and rotten? Or do they have slaves
and awakened herd-men cut it up for >them?
Ah. Now I understand your question. 1) they pull it into chunks with their hooves and chew itwith their teeth, which are, after all, not degenerate (unlike human teeth). They normally roast the beast over a fire to make it easier to eat.
2) Sometimes they let it "hang" for a few days till it gets ripe, as do other Praxians (and, indeed, modern humans). However, morocanth, with more robust digestive systems, are known to hang their meat longer than is palatable for all humans but the most decadent Lunars.
3) Yes, sometimes they have herd-men -- even _unawakened_ herd-men, cut meat into tiny slices, or even chew it and spit it out. This is normally only done for the sick, elderly, or infants.
4) They clutch semi-circular stone blades to chop meat into fragments. These blades are one of the more common morocanth tools.
>Unless they have teeth similar to a tiger, lion, or other
meat-eater, they have >problems getting the meat off the carcass in
small enough chunks to choke down.
Having witnessed a hog devour the carcass of a dog, it was abundantly clear that the hog had no difficulty processing the dog's bits at all. I have also observed chickens eating frogs, rats eating gerbils, rabbits eating rabbits (baby rabbits, not adult ones), and grasshoppers eating grasshoppers (this last was under duress). All were highly successful.
A clumsy morocanth might leave more uneaten fragments from a dead bison than a human, but uneaten tidbits can be easily left for the herdmen to mop up.
Sandy P.
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