How come humans can eat almost anything and survive, yet if an animal eats the wrong thing it will die?

Answer 1

What drugs have you been taking. There is loads we cant eat.

However its probably got to do with the size of an animal and it's immune system.

Answer 2

Who says that humans can eat almost anything? If you were trying to survive in the wilderness and became very hungry, you would be forced to try different plants or animals (insects, etc.), or carrion (dead meat). There are thousands of poisonous plants and insects, and chances are, if you didn't know which were good or not, you would die within a couple weeks of poisoning.

Humans are not so different from animals. In fact, we are biologically identical in every way. Animals learn what is good or poisonous from instinct and taste, from their parents, and sometimes from trial and error. Humans are no different. Our taste and parents teach us over time what is safe to eat (e.g., don't drink sour milk).

Also, ask any emergency room nurse of physician how many people they see each week of food poisoning. It is more common than you may realize, and without medical intervention people would often die of this.

Answer 3

There are a lot of things we can't eat or it will kill us, or make us very sick. Learned knowledge of the no-nos has been taught through the years.

Dogs try to eat things like frogs, but it makes them sick, they would drink antifreeze cause it is sweet and they like it but it brings a horrible death. Our brain and our learned knowledge goes way beyond the canine brain.

Think of the rhubarb plant. We know we don't eat the leaves cause they are poison but the stalk of the plant is a wonderful treat. But a dog will eat the leaves and end up in trouble.

My dogs chew on tree branches and eat it. They have for years and they are just fine. I tried chewing on a small twig and the taste wasn't bad but I didn't like it. But my dogs do.

There are medicines that are make out of poisonous plants that we take to cure illnesses.

Think about it. Have you ever seen a dog after it has tried to eat a frog? One would think it was rabid.

Answer 4

Humans are probably much more likely to get sick from eating something than animals. They tend to be much more hearty. They also have better instincts and know what kinds of plants and berries are safe, which most humans don't know unless taught (no instinct there.)

Answer 5

I don't know what you're talking about; animals can eat raw meat and poop, but [most] humans will die from these.

Answer 6

Not sure. Good question.

Answer 7

because animals and humans have different digestive systems duh?