Tumblr user what-even-is-thiss posed the very valid question “Guys do centaurs have to eat both horse food and human food?” and I need an answer. I mean you would think they would eat human food since they have human mouths and brains (presumably), right? But then their digestive systems are both human and herbivore horse based? Do they have two stomachs and two sets of intestines? Soooo… can they eat meat? What tf is going on here, I need answers. Can someone ask a centaur for me? LOL!
Just in case you don’t know or forgot, a centaur is a creature from Greek mythology with the upper body of a human and the lower body and legs of a horse. They’ve been popularized in modern fantasy literature and media like The Chronicles of Narnia, Harry Potter, Xena: Warrior Princess, Dungeons & Dragons, The Legend of Zelda and many more. Here are some badass fantasy centaur examples:
And here is the amusing and thought provoking thread from tumblr about centaur food and eating habits:
Source: what-even-is-thiss
So what do you think centaurs eat or don’t eat? Leave a comment below!
I think this comes up in the Narnia books. The centaurs take a long time to get ready in the morning because they have to eat two breakfasts, one horse and one human.
It does come up in at least one of the Narnia books and there’s a description of both meals. Going purely off very faulty memory it’s in “The Horse and His Boy”.
Ummm, as a biologist I have to remind you of the common knowledge – omnivores (humans) can eat grass just fine but won’t digest it as efficiently. On the other hand, meat is much more easily digested, an easier source of nutrition, but you have to catch it (which shouldn’t be a problem for a centaur). Also, they have human heads and mouth so they can’t graze and chew the cud like horses and cows do. So logically, centaurs would have a single digestive omnivore system like boars, bears, apes and HUMANS do. Their small collon will probably be a bit longer if their food is more plant based but a second stomach is frankly unnecessary.
sshshhhhhshhshsshh let me enjoy my random centaur content ok