Better late than never, eh? Something I threw together because of something my sis-in-law said.
***
"Did you ever wonder why people don't eat predators?" he said, reading over her shoulder.
She sighed, looking away from the news article. Some actor had eaten wolf meat, and animal rights groups were bent out of shape. "Can't say that I have," she replied.
"Certainly, there has to be a reason. Creatures don't just pick and choose what to put in their mouths." He strode back to his chair, pushing his glasses up his thin nose. "Evolution must dictate the menu."
She wasn't going to get back to her reading until she addressed his issue. Once he started in on something, he needed to get it all out, needed to have an audience. "Well, evolution made predators and prey, so I supposed you're on the right track." Better to play along than have him bring up the you-never-listen-to-me lecture.
"And evolution had to have a hand in why some predators eat certain prey. It took time to learn which animals were worth catching, and which took too much energy. How to catch them, how to eat them, what were the best parts to eat.
"So I figure humans learned not to eat predators because they were too hard to catch. Not worth the time or effort. Especially as dangerous as predators tend to be. We've evolved to not eat predators."
"What about shark? Humans eat shark, and it's a pretty scary predator."
He shook his head, rolling his eyes slightly. "Americans don't eat that much shark."
"Are we just talking about America then?"
"Of course."
She suppressed an eye roll of her own. "Well, then, what about alligator?"
"That's so very niche. Not enough people eat it to count."
"Americans don't eat enough real food to count as having evolved anything." She turned back to her computer, trying to end his debate.
"Have you listened to a thing I've said?" His voice grew in volume as the tone grew shriller. "You're never really paying attention to me."
She sighed and buried her face in her hands. There simply was no avoiding him. She understood then why some animals eat their young.
