[quote=cheesehead;136056]Lets consider sounds made by our own food.

Many (e.g., steam escaping from a cooked item, or the sizzling of a fried item) might be considered amusing or at least pleasant.

Perhaps less so when sounds are made by our food while the food is still alive. (I mean something like a cornfield rustling in the wind, which might be eerie in the context of a horror movie -- what did you think I meant?)[/quote]
But we don't normally constrict our food alive to kill it, then swallow it whole.

[QUOTE=Uncwilly;135935]A look at: [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snake#Perception"]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snake#Perception[/URL] would show that snakes have no hearing, and explain why warming the mices would enhance the dinning experiance.[/QUOTE]

Wait - since snakes are deaf, how could they ever appreciate a "dinning experience" to begin with? By definition, they should be unresponsive to the level of the din in their surroundings.

[Sorry - couldn't resist - another victim of "context-free spellchecking" software. :D]

Mike, why don't you just feed the beast live mice? I mean, if you feed it dead mice, they had to die somehow - and that would save you the trouble [and possibly nasty looks from the wife] of using the microwave to thaw the little frozen mousies.

I know my late cat would never have gone for dead mice, whether thawed and remotely anminated or not - the shrill-squeaky-slow-torture-to-death was a crucial part of the whole dining experience. Sounds like snakes are less picky that way, but the fact that yours seems to prefer the "Weekend at Bernie's" animated version tells me they still prefer live prey. So why be a hypocrite, I say - remember, "life is simply nature's way of preserving meat."

[quote]Mike, why don't you just feed the beast live mice? I mean, if you feed it dead mice, they had to die somehow - and that would save you the trouble [and possibly nasty looks from the wife] of using the microwave to thaw the little frozen mousies.[/quote]

No microwave involved. (They pop in the microwave.)

We use warm water.

Why we use frozen mice:

[url]http://www.rodentpro.com/qpage_articles_01.asp[/url]

[QUOTE=Xyzzy;136087]No microwave involved. (They pop in the microwave.)[/QUOTE]Is that the voice of experience?

Paul

[QUOTE=xilman;136090]Is that the voice of experience?l[/QUOTE]

Ha, ha, sure sounds like it. Can't wait to hear all the explosive revelations from our buddy, Mr. Mike "Orrville Rodentbacher" Vang.

[QUOTE=ewmayer;136086][Sorry - couldn't resist - another victim of "context-free spellchecking" software. :D][/QUOTE]Sure, pick on the learning disabled. I only really learned the difference last year between the spelling of desert and dessert and how to remember it.

[quote=Mini-Geek;136070][quote=cheesehead;136056]Lets consider sounds made by our own food.

Many (e.g., steam escaping from a cooked item, or the sizzling of a fried item) might be considered amusing or at least pleasant.

Perhaps less so when sounds are made by our food while the food is still alive. (I mean something like a cornfield rustling in the wind, which might be eerie in the context of a horror movie -- what did you think I meant?)[/quote]

But we don't normally constrict our food alive to kill it, then swallow it whole.[/quote]
You're quite right, instead we keep it for many months in cramped overcrowded surroundings feeding it a diet which is designed to pre-digest its flesh ready for the convenience of our modern pampered stomachs, then when it's bursting with fat so that it can hardly move we transport it packed tightly with its terrified companions in a lorry to a place where its final fate is too gruesome to describe in here in the lounge. We could learn some civilised behaviour from the snakes or better still exploit the fact that we don't have to eat meat.

[quote=Brian-E;136104]You're quite right, instead we keep it for many months in cramped overcrowded surroundings feeding it a diet which is designed to pre-digest its flesh ready for the convenience of our modern pampered stomachs, then when it's bursting with fat so that it can hardly move we transport it packed tightly with its terrified companions in a lorry to a place where its final fate is too gruesome to describe in here in the lounge. We could learn some civilised behaviour from the snakes or better still exploit the fact that we don't have to eat meat.[/quote]
...which all has nothing to do with whether we like or are amused by or enjoy the animal's sound while it's still alive.

[quote]But we don't normally constrict our food alive to kill it, then swallow it whole.[/quote]... and the rest of us appreciate those excellent manners! :smile:

- - -

I wish to note that my posting about food sounds omitted any reference to animals.

Other examples:

the thump-thump of ripe apples falling from the tree while one is trying to pick others on the same tree on an apple farm,

the softer plop-plop of ripe crabapples falling from the flowering crabapple tree in ones front yard,

the almost-inaudible squishing of raspberries when one grasps them with too much force while testing their ripeness,

the breeze-driven rustling of (besides corn: wheat, cabbages, or just about any other edible crop that has leaves).

[quote=Mini-Geek;136117]...which all has nothing to do with whether we like or are amused by or enjoy the animal's sound while it's still alive.[/quote]
That's right, it doesn't. It has to with our methods of killing which is what I thought your posting was about. :smile: