I bet they taste like chicken, too. Alligator tastes like chicken (albeit slimy), and humans (reportedly) taste like chicken, so… who’s to say a god wouldn’t?
Humans taste like pig, definitely. That’s why the meat is called “long pig” among some cannibalistic tribes. In my experience (That of slicing a large chunk off my hand and being silly enough to simply chew it off rather than do anything proper with it) the lower grade of meaty flavored hot dogs would be appropriate to describe the flavor.
Oh goodness me, why do I feel compelled to explain these things.
Sparky’s right, according to the prevailing science. It has to do with humans being omnivores like pigs. Although that doesn’t explain alligator’s tasting like chicken.
Except this is a Hyena god; probably closer to rabbit in flavor. (I presume most of Ursula’s readership are unfamiliar with the flavor of dog and/or cat, which might be closer.)
Blue- Predator meat is rather good really, it tends towards sweat flavor, and because so many preditors are all about laying still and not burning extra calories it also tends to be tender…. The problem is that many humans have difficulty eating animals or picturing eating animals with truly forward facing eyes…(the mark of a predator)
Wait, don’t shrews eat seeds and nuts and worms? How does Surka know what chicken tastes like? Given Digger’s, shall we say extreme, reaction to eating outside her normal diet, I’d think this might be an issue.
I am enjoying this SO MUCH and I’m going to be SO SAD when it’s over! It’s motivation to get up on Tuesday and Thursday (well, that and the toddler jumping on my stomach). But I’m comforted by the fact these are all available in book form, I’m going to have to get myself those!
@David: Surka is a great deal more adventurous than most of the other characters. That said, it makes perfect sense that she’d eat some chicken at least once to see what it tastes like. Or perhaps just to have the “Tastes like chicken” line firmly under her belt.
I think there needs to be a tee-shirt. Graphic drawn from, say, this (http://www.diggercomic.com/?p=254) or something around there, text: “Tastes Like Chicken!”
David, shrews are omnivorous and cannibalistic. They’ll eat ANYTHING they can get their paws on, even each other. They have a metabolism on overdrive and can eat nearly their ownweight in food every day. They also have very little brainpower and just go about killing, eating, and breeding at a frenetic pace until they drop dead after a max lifespan of 2 years. A lion-sized shrew would be the most terrifying predator on earth!
As for what humans taste like… I shall acquiesce to the ever-evil Charline de Lyon.
*Charline speaks while manicuring her fearsome claws* Humans? Oh. Well, they’re.. edible. They’re like many edible wild plants; you eat them when you have to, not because you want to. Like pine needle tea, which tastes awful, but has needed vitamins. You get the picture.
That third panel looks SO epic to me right now because, as I was reading this page, I was listening to Remember the Name. Now I have this picture in my head of Digger doing a bunch of cool gangster stuff, like in a movie preview. Oh, and over my long, four day weekend, I re-read the archives, and it seems the only reason they couldn’t kill He-Is and Sweetgrass Voice when they first saw the heart was because Murai started to have one of her little meltdowns.
@ alondro- Actually, I rather like pine needles. If you get the really small ones in spring, they have a nice bitter taste, but I guess it’s just the kind of thing only a few people like.
Most small mammals eat a large percentage of their body weight a day. (A quote I heard years ago is that humans can be well-fed eating 2% of their body weight per day; a mouse eats 50% of its own body weight just to stay alive.)
It’s actually a variant of the square-cube law: body heat is generated proportional to the body’s volume, which goes up as the cube of the size; body heat is lost proportional to the area of skin, which goes up as the square of the size. So if you double the size of a mammal, its body mass goes up by a factor of eight, but the energy intake required from food only really goes up by a factor of four.
Killer Shrews, Killer Shrews, don’t know the difference between me and you. They come out at night to give us a fright. Don’t look know their going to take a bite! (Sorry too much MSTK)
I have heard it said that “it tastes like chicken” really means very little, because chicken, in fact, doesn’t have a flavor, or is so mild in flavor that whatever seasonings are used to spice the meat pretty much overwhelm what little flavor is there.
And yes, shrews will eat anything. They’re also pretty mean. I still like Surka!
Rags – love the link – gonna break out my art supplies tomorrow 😉
Love the shrew!!!! 😉
To borrow a line from Dylan’s Mississippi “Things should start to get interesting right about now”
Indeed, shrews are ravenous little beasts, theyll eat whatever they can get their greedy little empire in; worms, beetles, eggs, baby mice or birds, vegetive matter, and carrion, easily including scrumptious chicken carcasses with a seasoning of juicy little maggots
Cannibals uniformly have said that humans have the nicest meat of all meat animals, and that is actually one of the major problems about getting them to stop. Of course, there may be some psychological stuff going on there. But that’s what they’ve said.
I bet He-Is will be saved by braking of the bindings and Sweetgrass will be eaten or turned to good by shadow child, thus uniting the tribe with the cold ones as one happy nation. (like east and west Germany, when the Berlin wall fell)
@Tindi – You’re right: “It tasted a little like chicken. When you are hungry enough, practically anything can.” Rincewind eating grubs in The Last Continent.
Also, it’s really appropriate that Surka’s a shrew. Badass? Check. Crazy? Check. Crazy badass? Check. Willing to kill and eat anything that walks, crawls, or swims and many things else besides? Check!
A wombat, a broken-armed priest with destiny clinging to her ankles, and a shrew… And a god that needs a final killing. That is some nice epic and awesome, indeed!
Can I once again point out Peggy Reeves Sanday’s book “Divine hunger, cannibalism as a cultural system” and the joys of the spoof “anthropological preparedness product” product Hufu…
… and state that yes, apparently human beings taste of pork.
And although i have never eaten Hyena, the ancient Egyptians DID eat striped Hyena, and to them it was a rare luxury meat reserved for those of high status and specially farmed at palatial sites, such as at Tell- Al-Armamna. That I already knew from my friends in Egyptology, however five min’s on google produced some far odder results: Body parts of striped hyenas have for some reason also been seen as aphrodisiacs across the near and middle east as far east as the Indus valley and have subsequently been used/consumed for that reason, although why striped hyenas rather that say spotted hyena or jackal, the striped hyenas nearest wild competitor though most of its range, i have no idea. They are also apparently considered halal, where as spotted hyenas are not. On the other hand we know Surka consumes alcohol so so chances are she’s not a Muslim.
anyway, here’s a Wikipedia page on tasty sexy striped hyenas.
I LOVE that shrew!
I bet they taste like chicken, too. Alligator tastes like chicken (albeit slimy), and humans (reportedly) taste like chicken, so… who’s to say a god wouldn’t?
Deck-stacking Digger-style: Surka, ace with a troll.
No, humans taste like pigs, apparently.
Ha! Taste like chicken … gotta love that shrew! 😆
Don’t forget to VOTE, everyone! http://topwebcomics.com/vote/10180/default.aspx
Humans taste like pig, definitely. That’s why the meat is called “long pig” among some cannibalistic tribes. In my experience (That of slicing a large chunk off my hand and being silly enough to simply chew it off rather than do anything proper with it) the lower grade of meaty flavored hot dogs would be appropriate to describe the flavor.
Oh goodness me, why do I feel compelled to explain these things.
Also; SURKA I LOVE YOU. c:
Sparky’s right, according to the prevailing science. It has to do with humans being omnivores like pigs. Although that doesn’t explain alligator’s tasting like chicken.
Aww, what is that little shrew going to do? cute me to death? Oh, ow, OW! AHHHHH!
I have no words for how awesome Surka is. She just look the power of awesomeness and raised it to infinity.
And the second panel, with Digger and Murai…AWWWWWWW!!!
Except this is a Hyena god; probably closer to rabbit in flavor. (I presume most of Ursula’s readership are unfamiliar with the flavor of dog and/or cat, which might be closer.)
Being a carnivore, and predator at that, I would imagine hyena just wouldn’t taste very good at all.
Just don’t eat the liver. We know what happens when you eat hyena liver. Hyena GOD liver? ewwwww……
Blue- Predator meat is rather good really, it tends towards sweat flavor, and because so many preditors are all about laying still and not burning extra calories it also tends to be tender…. The problem is that many humans have difficulty eating animals or picturing eating animals with truly forward facing eyes…(the mark of a predator)
The second panel is an overdose of D’awwww!
Humans taste like javelina but slightly sweeter… don’t ask me how I know this.
Wait, don’t shrews eat seeds and nuts and worms? How does Surka know what chicken tastes like? Given Digger’s, shall we say extreme, reaction to eating outside her normal diet, I’d think this might be an issue.
I am enjoying this SO MUCH and I’m going to be SO SAD when it’s over! It’s motivation to get up on Tuesday and Thursday (well, that and the toddler jumping on my stomach). But I’m comforted by the fact these are all available in book form, I’m going to have to get myself those!
@David: Surka is a great deal more adventurous than most of the other characters. That said, it makes perfect sense that she’d eat some chicken at least once to see what it tastes like. Or perhaps just to have the “Tastes like chicken” line firmly under her belt.
@ David, I think digger has other things to worry about at the moment besides what shrews eat.
I think there needs to be a tee-shirt. Graphic drawn from, say, this (http://www.diggercomic.com/?p=254) or something around there, text: “Tastes Like Chicken!”
Yes, I am that warped 😉
Tastes like liver, maybe?
I’m now officially caught up, and what an epic story to have read in two days! I’ll be back in a couple of weeks. Cya!
David, shrews are omnivorous and cannibalistic. They’ll eat ANYTHING they can get their paws on, even each other. They have a metabolism on overdrive and can eat nearly their ownweight in food every day. They also have very little brainpower and just go about killing, eating, and breeding at a frenetic pace until they drop dead after a max lifespan of 2 years. A lion-sized shrew would be the most terrifying predator on earth!
As for what humans taste like… I shall acquiesce to the ever-evil Charline de Lyon.
*Charline speaks while manicuring her fearsome claws* Humans? Oh. Well, they’re.. edible. They’re like many edible wild plants; you eat them when you have to, not because you want to. Like pine needle tea, which tastes awful, but has needed vitamins. You get the picture.
That third panel looks SO epic to me right now because, as I was reading this page, I was listening to Remember the Name. Now I have this picture in my head of Digger doing a bunch of cool gangster stuff, like in a movie preview. Oh, and over my long, four day weekend, I re-read the archives, and it seems the only reason they couldn’t kill He-Is and Sweetgrass Voice when they first saw the heart was because Murai started to have one of her little meltdowns.
@ alondro- Actually, I rather like pine needles. If you get the really small ones in spring, they have a nice bitter taste, but I guess it’s just the kind of thing only a few people like.
Most small mammals eat a large percentage of their body weight a day. (A quote I heard years ago is that humans can be well-fed eating 2% of their body weight per day; a mouse eats 50% of its own body weight just to stay alive.)
It’s actually a variant of the square-cube law: body heat is generated proportional to the body’s volume, which goes up as the cube of the size; body heat is lost proportional to the area of skin, which goes up as the square of the size. So if you double the size of a mammal, its body mass goes up by a factor of eight, but the energy intake required from food only really goes up by a factor of four.
Killer Shrews, Killer Shrews, don’t know the difference between me and you. They come out at night to give us a fright. Don’t look know their going to take a bite! (Sorry too much MSTK)
Stuff that tastes like chicken:
http://www.olahelland.net/giraffes/?id=35509
*ducks and runs*
I can’t remember who said it (I’m wanting to think Pratchett), but someone says nearly everything tastes like chicken if you’re hungry enough.
I have heard it said that “it tastes like chicken” really means very little, because chicken, in fact, doesn’t have a flavor, or is so mild in flavor that whatever seasonings are used to spice the meat pretty much overwhelm what little flavor is there.
And yes, shrews will eat anything. They’re also pretty mean. I still like Surka!
Rags – love the link – gonna break out my art supplies tomorrow 😉
Love the shrew!!!! 😉
To borrow a line from Dylan’s Mississippi “Things should start to get interesting right about now”
Indeed, shrews are ravenous little beasts, theyll eat whatever they can get their greedy little empire in; worms, beetles, eggs, baby mice or birds, vegetive matter, and carrion, easily including scrumptious chicken carcasses with a seasoning of juicy little maggots
@Hawk, that’s true of white meat, not so much of the dark stuff. Though I haven’t eaten most of the things that ostensibly taste like chicken…
“empire” is an auto-correction of “snouts” :/
“Ow, my arm. Ow, my arm. Ow, my arm…”
Cannibals uniformly have said that humans have the nicest meat of all meat animals, and that is actually one of the major problems about getting them to stop. Of course, there may be some psychological stuff going on there. But that’s what they’ve said.
I bet He-Is will be saved by braking of the bindings and Sweetgrass will be eaten or turned to good by shadow child, thus uniting the tribe with the cold ones as one happy nation. (like east and west Germany, when the Berlin wall fell)
@Tindi – You’re right: “It tasted a little like chicken. When you are hungry enough, practically anything can.” Rincewind eating grubs in The Last Continent.
Also, it’s really appropriate that Surka’s a shrew. Badass? Check. Crazy? Check. Crazy badass? Check. Willing to kill and eat anything that walks, crawls, or swims and many things else besides? Check!
Well, not *all* gods taste like chicken: one of them is said to taste like rather cheap wine…. 7@=Q
Also, I love how serene Murai looks during the hug. 🙂
HAUGHM NAUGHM NAUGHM
A wombat, a broken-armed priest with destiny clinging to her ankles, and a shrew… And a god that needs a final killing. That is some nice epic and awesome, indeed!
…drat. I’ve run out of archive again.
Oh Sukra, don’t you know everything?
“Maybe a lot of food tastes like chicken because the machines couldn’t figure out the taste of a lot of food”
Can I once again point out Peggy Reeves Sanday’s book “Divine hunger, cannibalism as a cultural system” and the joys of the spoof “anthropological preparedness product” product Hufu…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hufu
… and state that yes, apparently human beings taste of pork.
And although i have never eaten Hyena, the ancient Egyptians DID eat striped Hyena, and to them it was a rare luxury meat reserved for those of high status and specially farmed at palatial sites, such as at Tell- Al-Armamna. That I already knew from my friends in Egyptology, however five min’s on google produced some far odder results: Body parts of striped hyenas have for some reason also been seen as aphrodisiacs across the near and middle east as far east as the Indus valley and have subsequently been used/consumed for that reason, although why striped hyenas rather that say spotted hyena or jackal, the striped hyenas nearest wild competitor though most of its range, i have no idea. They are also apparently considered halal, where as spotted hyenas are not. On the other hand we know Surka consumes alcohol so so chances are she’s not a Muslim.
anyway, here’s a Wikipedia page on tasty sexy striped hyenas.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Striped_Hyena#Relationship_with_humans
Surka is one of those people who has seen it all, clearly.
She has a quiet style.
I will grant you that she has style, but “quiet” is not a word I’d use to describe it.
I mean, she clearly knows how to be quiet when the situation calls for it, but her style seems pretty boisterous otherwise, IMO.