Comments on: Using Sense of Smell Against the Undead to Save the Living http://www.zombiesarecoming.com/2008/06/27/using-sense-of-smell-against-the-undead-to-save-the-living/ Look Dead Tue, 06 Jan 2009 20:45:21 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.2.2 By: jordan http://www.zombiesarecoming.com/2008/06/27/using-sense-of-smell-against-the-undead-to-save-the-living/#comment-112497 jordan Thu, 04 Dec 2008 01:43:55 +0000 http://www.zombiesarecoming.com/2008/06/27/using-sense-of-smell-against-the-undead-to-save-the-living/#comment-112497 Well i got the living dead comics, awsome read, and going by what they said about the zombies the goo wouldnt hurt you. Only their bight was lethal, and weather or not thats what killed you if you died from somthing other than a brain wound you came back as a zombie. i do not, however feel that smell, sight, or hearing are that advanced in a zombie. like some have already mention eyes of the dead are no that capable likwise for the ears and nose. If the body is dead the nose and ears are filled with coagulated blood and other vile secreations. Its as if they were filled with concrete. vital chemicals and fluids processed by are bodys for the nose are no longer being regulated by homeostasis and left to rot. the cavities of the inner ear colapsed of more likelydried out and cracked like driy-rotted rubber. To say that they are still functioning at any level is to say the body is not completely dead. This goes against the definiton of zombie. Perhaps though i am wrong, shit these are all guesses anyways, lets say the senses continue to function at any capacity. our olfactory capability is still no where near that of a dogs or most other animals for that matter, neither is our sight or sense of hearing. could it be that we humans just make ourselfes easy targets by being loud fidgety and generlly different smelling than everything else? right now as i type this i can hear the naeighbor close, probably slam, his car door. Its a more rural area so the cars about 300 yards away and im in my room wich is about as far from there house as you can get, inside the house. What about at night, we use lights for everything we all know these are easy to see from any distance, the stars above tell us that and im not getting mooshy on you neither. and as for the smell, well i think thats all bullshit, we just cant pick up the parts per million that an animal can needed to track a human being. and a few suggestions for future topics: -best booby traps/lures for zombies -could a zombie generate enough heat to be seen with infared? -how long would it take for fire to cook a zombies brain? -can you kill a zombie with a zombie? (my method involves a lazer pointer) -best armor for a vehicle, smooth or reinforced? Well i got the living dead comics, awsome read, and going by what they said about the zombies the goo wouldnt hurt you. Only their bight was lethal, and weather or not thats what killed you if you died from somthing other than a brain wound you came back as a zombie.

i do not, however feel that smell, sight, or hearing are that advanced in a zombie. like some have already mention eyes of the dead are no that capable likwise for the ears and nose. If the body is dead the nose and ears are filled with coagulated blood and other vile secreations. Its as if they were filled with concrete. vital chemicals and fluids processed by are bodys for the nose are no longer being regulated by homeostasis and left to rot. the cavities of the inner ear colapsed of more likelydried out and cracked like driy-rotted rubber.

To say that they are still functioning at any level is to say the body is not completely dead. This goes against the definiton of zombie.

Perhaps though i am wrong, shit these are all guesses anyways, lets say the senses continue to function at any capacity. our olfactory capability is still no where near that of a dogs or most other animals for that matter, neither is our sight or sense of hearing. could it be that we humans just make ourselfes easy targets by being loud fidgety and generlly different smelling than everything else?

right now as i type this i can hear the naeighbor close, probably slam, his car door. Its a more rural area so the cars about 300 yards away and im in my room wich is about as far from there house as you can get, inside the house. What about at night, we use lights for everything we all know these are easy to see from any distance, the stars above tell us that and im not getting mooshy on you neither. and as for the smell, well i think thats all bullshit, we just cant pick up the parts per million that an animal can needed to track a human being.

and a few suggestions for future topics:

-best booby traps/lures for zombies

-could a zombie generate enough heat to be seen with infared?

-how long would it take for fire to cook a zombies brain?

-can you kill a zombie with a zombie? (my method involves a lazer pointer)

-best armor for a vehicle, smooth or reinforced?

]]> By: Bearfoot http://www.zombiesarecoming.com/2008/06/27/using-sense-of-smell-against-the-undead-to-save-the-living/#comment-111344 Bearfoot Mon, 24 Nov 2008 15:29:08 +0000 http://www.zombiesarecoming.com/2008/06/27/using-sense-of-smell-against-the-undead-to-save-the-living/#comment-111344 Actually, they sell stuff that smells like dead bodies to train corpse sniffing dogs. However it's a carefully restricted substance and probably going to be very hard to find even BEFORE the end of civilization. Actually, they sell stuff that smells like dead bodies to train corpse sniffing dogs.

However it’s a carefully restricted substance and probably going to be very hard to find even BEFORE the end of civilization.

]]> By: Dreamornaut http://www.zombiesarecoming.com/2008/06/27/using-sense-of-smell-against-the-undead-to-save-the-living/#comment-103267 Dreamornaut Mon, 20 Oct 2008 13:19:14 +0000 http://www.zombiesarecoming.com/2008/06/27/using-sense-of-smell-against-the-undead-to-save-the-living/#comment-103267 I definitely agree on the zed losing pattern recognition and that camouflage would not be effective. A walking virus receptacle that doesn't show any problem solving capability simply wouldn't need to expend the brain power on it. Essentially it's the same scenario of a blind person exhibiting hirer sensitivity to other senses. Nothing actually happens to make the ears, nose or touch function better, but the brain know has more processing power free to devote to other senses. I definitely agree on the zed losing pattern recognition and that camouflage would not be effective. A walking virus receptacle that doesn’t show any problem solving capability simply wouldn’t need to expend the brain power on it. Essentially it’s the same scenario of a blind person exhibiting hirer sensitivity to other senses. Nothing actually happens to make the ears, nose or touch function better, but the brain know has more processing power free to devote to other senses.

]]> By: Dr Who http://www.zombiesarecoming.com/2008/06/27/using-sense-of-smell-against-the-undead-to-save-the-living/#comment-103186 Dr Who Sun, 19 Oct 2008 23:54:17 +0000 http://www.zombiesarecoming.com/2008/06/27/using-sense-of-smell-against-the-undead-to-save-the-living/#comment-103186 It all comes down to how zombies track their prey. Sight, smell, sound, or some other method. We'll pass on discussing other methods as these are obviously paranormal and beyond logical discussion. Sight falls under two different catagories motion based (how most animals see) and pattern recognition (how humans and higher brain functioning animals see), smell and sound are self explanatory. I believe it has to be a combination of these three senses that form the zombie hunting skill set. Working on the premise that biological function has changed from living human to virus controlled and the host body has not been altered or degraded by decomposition the zombie senses will not be increased. This being said the zombie will show signs of sense increase because brain function degrading to animal level causes the host organism to pay more attention to input from the senses and not self generated input. My beliefs are that sight will change from pattern based recognition to motion based. This means camoflage will have no use and hunting blinds and slow movement will be best. This change will free up brain function for other processes and will be a necesity as the brain will now be at a premium. Sound is completely self explanatory and would only show a minor increase in observable use. Smell is where we can see an actual marked increase in observable use. For whatever reason we humans pay little attention to our sense of smell, using as little as 30% of our capability. So you can imagine the boost that smell would get. This still would not bring a zed to the level of a dog , but would not confer a tracking ability, though following a scent upwind could happen. This being said, coating onesself in zombie goo would not be a workable action. You would have to have direct goo-skin contact for the two smells (zombie and human) to combine. Otherwise you would have two different scent that the dead tell the difference between, obviously the case elsewise a zombie couldn't smell you over the stronger smell of his bottom lip. So now it's down to coating your SKIN with this or it not working. I'll let the reader decide whether the POSSIBILITY of being ignored is worth the risk of infection, either from the zombie virus or any of the other diseases a walking corpse will be carrying. All this being said there are many ways of masking your own scent through washing and wearing cologne to chem suits to offensive area weapons such as strong chemicals and gallon bottles of perfumes. The only thing is the learning curve for these is too high to blindly experiment with. While the walking dead comic series is really good I wouldn't try what the character in question did (coated in zed gunk and halving two of them as pets) anymore than play a video game with a zombie (ala Shaun of the Dead). In an outbreak someone else can be the test subject for this tactic I won't be it. Chemicals and Perfume bombs could be tested at a distance with relative safety as long as a good and quick escape method was available. It all comes down to how zombies track their prey. Sight, smell, sound, or some other method. We’ll pass on discussing other methods as these are obviously paranormal and beyond logical discussion. Sight falls under two different catagories motion based (how most animals see) and pattern recognition (how humans and higher brain functioning animals see), smell and sound are self explanatory. I believe it has to be a combination of these three senses that form the zombie hunting skill set. Working on the premise that biological function has changed from living human to virus controlled and the host body has not been altered or degraded by decomposition the zombie senses will not be increased. This being said the zombie will show signs of sense increase because brain function degrading to animal level causes the host organism to pay more attention to input from the senses and not self generated input. My beliefs are that sight will change from pattern based recognition to motion based. This means camoflage will have no use and hunting blinds and slow movement will be best. This change will free up brain function for other processes and will be a necesity as the brain will now be at a premium. Sound is completely self explanatory and would only show a minor increase in observable use. Smell is where we can see an actual marked increase in observable use. For whatever reason we humans pay little attention to our sense of smell, using as little as 30% of our capability. So you can imagine the boost that smell would get. This still would not bring a zed to the level of a dog , but would not confer a tracking ability, though following a scent upwind could happen. This being said, coating onesself in zombie goo would not be a workable action. You would have to have direct goo-skin contact for the two smells (zombie and human) to combine. Otherwise you would have two different scent that the dead tell the difference between, obviously the case elsewise a zombie couldn’t smell you over the stronger smell of his bottom lip. So now it’s down to coating your SKIN with this or it not working. I’ll let the reader decide whether the POSSIBILITY of being ignored is worth the risk of infection, either from the zombie virus or any of the other diseases a walking corpse will be carrying. All this being said there are many ways of masking your own scent through washing and wearing cologne to chem suits to offensive area weapons such as strong chemicals and gallon bottles of perfumes. The only thing is the learning curve for these is too high to blindly experiment with. While the walking dead comic series is really good I wouldn’t try what the character in question did (coated in zed gunk and halving two of them as pets) anymore than play a video game with a zombie (ala Shaun of the Dead). In an outbreak someone else can be the test subject for this tactic I won’t be it. Chemicals and Perfume bombs could be tested at a distance with relative safety as long as a good and quick escape method was available.

]]> By: Dreamornaut http://www.zombiesarecoming.com/2008/06/27/using-sense-of-smell-against-the-undead-to-save-the-living/#comment-102975 Dreamornaut Sat, 18 Oct 2008 12:57:20 +0000 http://www.zombiesarecoming.com/2008/06/27/using-sense-of-smell-against-the-undead-to-save-the-living/#comment-102975 Do you mean spandex or latex? If it's spandex you'll still sweat, so I'm not sure if I see an advantage other then you'd have nothing hanging loose (OK, talking about latex and things hanging loose is just wrong) for the Zed to grab. In the case of latex, yes it's not breathable at all and sweat wouldn't escape. The bad part of it, neither will you. Sweating is part of the bodies cooling system and if your sweat can't evaporate you could possibly die from heat stroke even in a snow storm. OK, I'm exaggerating a little, but only a little. Do you mean spandex or latex? If it’s spandex you’ll still sweat, so I’m not sure if I see an advantage other then you’d have nothing hanging loose (OK, talking about latex and things hanging loose is just wrong) for the Zed to grab. In the case of latex, yes it’s not breathable at all and sweat wouldn’t escape. The bad part of it, neither will you. Sweating is part of the bodies cooling system and if your sweat can’t evaporate you could possibly die from heat stroke even in a snow storm.

OK, I’m exaggerating a little, but only a little.

]]> By: AssasinatingTheZombies http://www.zombiesarecoming.com/2008/06/27/using-sense-of-smell-against-the-undead-to-save-the-living/#comment-102357 AssasinatingTheZombies Tue, 14 Oct 2008 17:06:22 +0000 http://www.zombiesarecoming.com/2008/06/27/using-sense-of-smell-against-the-undead-to-save-the-living/#comment-102357 surely, wearing a spandex suit under ur clothes wud help? if not a bit too sexual...or gAsexual lol i wud wear spandex suit, or summat to cover my body, wud wear thin metal bracelocks around my limbs, chest and neck, wud wear metal helmet shield, and wud use a flamethrower, an M4 carbine, and sum phosphoroues grenades in the dozen burning is the only true answer, and ud have to burn them as u see them, or the fluid cud get away, into a drain, an multiply, creating a new mutant-ic zombie although, a knight in shining armour, wud ironically be useful, as they r protected from all zombie attacks, and bites, and if they had flamethrower, M4 and phosphorous grenades, then that wud be a life saver cudnt u drive around in an armoured SUV, emitting a kind of brown noise...or a dog whistle, except for zombies...without fluids of being alive, zomkbies cud not see, hear, smell, or touch, so they must be being controlled by a higher source, meaning....there is an evil genius with a million henchmen, converting the dead into walking undead that has to be it surely, wearing a spandex suit under ur clothes wud help?
if not a bit too sexual…or gAsexual lol

i wud wear spandex suit, or summat to cover my body, wud wear thin metal bracelocks around my limbs, chest and neck, wud wear metal helmet shield, and wud use a flamethrower, an M4 carbine, and sum phosphoroues grenades in the dozen

burning is the only true answer, and ud have to burn them as u see them, or the fluid cud get away, into a drain, an multiply, creating a new mutant-ic zombie

although, a knight in shining armour, wud ironically be useful, as they r protected from all zombie attacks, and bites, and if they had flamethrower, M4 and phosphorous grenades, then that wud be a life saver

cudnt u drive around in an armoured SUV, emitting a kind of brown noise…or a dog whistle, except for zombies…without fluids of being alive, zomkbies cud not see, hear, smell, or touch, so they must be being controlled by a higher source, meaning….there is an evil genius with a million henchmen, converting the dead into walking undead

that has to be it

]]> By: Dreamornaut http://www.zombiesarecoming.com/2008/06/27/using-sense-of-smell-against-the-undead-to-save-the-living/#comment-102025 Dreamornaut Sat, 11 Oct 2008 22:19:41 +0000 http://www.zombiesarecoming.com/2008/06/27/using-sense-of-smell-against-the-undead-to-save-the-living/#comment-102025 I would think that since zombies don not truly seem to interact or even really acknowledge each other outside of being attracted to the tell tale 'moan' which just may be a general attraction to sound. This might mean that they simply do not acknowledge each other as a life form. Considering this, I would think that it's most likely that they detect life possibly via sweat. In which case it could be a matter of simply masking the odor (mostly water and chlorides) of us sweaty mammals. This would also possibly explain why they seem to prefer humans since (I could be wrong) I believe we have more sweat glands then most other mammals. Thinking about it, has anyone heard of an instance in which the Z have attacked non-mammals like reptiles, amphibians, fish and insects? I would think that since zombies don not truly seem to interact or even really acknowledge each other outside of being attracted to the tell tale ‘moan’ which just may be a general attraction to sound. This might mean that they simply do not acknowledge each other as a life form. Considering this, I would think that it’s most likely that they detect life possibly via sweat. In which case it could be a matter of simply masking the odor (mostly water and chlorides) of us sweaty mammals. This would also possibly explain why they seem to prefer humans since (I could be wrong) I believe we have more sweat glands then most other mammals. Thinking about it, has anyone heard of an instance in which the Z have attacked non-mammals like reptiles, amphibians, fish and insects?

]]> By: -- http://www.zombiesarecoming.com/2008/06/27/using-sense-of-smell-against-the-undead-to-save-the-living/#comment-96795 -- Mon, 29 Sep 2008 00:35:40 +0000 http://www.zombiesarecoming.com/2008/06/27/using-sense-of-smell-against-the-undead-to-save-the-living/#comment-96795 I think some axe-bombs oughta take care of them. Pick up a few spray-cans of heavy odors, tape down the trigger and toss. Perfume bottles would work too. With any luck, their sense of smell will be overpowered by Axe and Eau de Emesis, and with some luck, they may very well die. In addition, it would provide for some warning before a zed horde comes storming in. I'm imagining chucking cans of deodorant off of rooftops onto roaming hordes of fifteen or twenty. The sheer comic relief of this act would also be plenty useful. I think some axe-bombs oughta take care of them. Pick up a few spray-cans of heavy odors, tape down the trigger and toss. Perfume bottles would work too. With any luck, their sense of smell will be overpowered by Axe and Eau de Emesis, and with some luck, they may very well die. In addition, it would provide for some warning before a zed horde comes storming in. I’m imagining chucking cans of deodorant off of rooftops onto roaming hordes of fifteen or twenty. The sheer comic relief of this act would also be plenty useful.

]]> By: Oscar Wilde http://www.zombiesarecoming.com/2008/06/27/using-sense-of-smell-against-the-undead-to-save-the-living/#comment-76997 Oscar Wilde Sat, 23 Aug 2008 21:32:40 +0000 http://www.zombiesarecoming.com/2008/06/27/using-sense-of-smell-against-the-undead-to-save-the-living/#comment-76997 I think a zombies "need to feed" stems from the virus. Though considering a virus as living is iffy for this case I'd consider it as such. The goal of a virus is to spread and infecting a body is how it goes about it. And once the virus has infected another body, the virus is successful in it's goal of spreading and will continue this cycle indefinitely. Ok now to connect it to the main topic. So the goal of the zombie is the goal of the virus, like all other life, which is to create offspring. A zombie would be wasting its time trying to infect another zombie. It must feed/infect a new untainted host which is living humans. To differentiate between a new host and one already infected the zombie uses its sense of hearing and sense of smell in combination. My theory is that when one zombie smells a human, the zombie's groaning will attract other zombies. Having multiple zombies attack increases the likelihood of successfully infecting a new host. By covering ones sent with that of a zombie would work similar to how hunters use deer urine. I'm assuming methods of contracting the disease would be orally and through the blood. Though it would increase your chances of infecting yourself. This method can be used successfully if one is careful enough to not have open wounds, soars and an unprotected mouth and eyes. To test this method you could present yourself to a dog. I remember in WWZ the Israelis used dogs as zombie detectors. They would growl if a person had become infected despite appearing healthy. I'm guessing they use their strong sense of smell to do this. Given that a dog's sense of smell is much stronger than a humans it should be much stronger than a zombie's. So if you can get a dog to think you're a zombie I'm sure zombies will not be able to tell the difference either. Sorry if I wrote too much. I hope someone reads at least parts of it. TLDR: Hiding your scent might work, don't get yourself infected. Test it with a dog. I think a zombies “need to feed” stems from the virus. Though considering a virus as living is iffy for this case I’d consider it as such. The goal of a virus is to spread and infecting a body is how it goes about it. And once the virus has infected another body, the virus is successful in it’s goal of spreading and will continue this cycle indefinitely.

Ok now to connect it to the main topic. So the goal of the zombie is the goal of the virus, like all other life, which is to create offspring. A zombie would be wasting its time trying to infect another zombie. It must feed/infect a new untainted host which is living humans. To differentiate between a new host and one already infected the zombie uses its sense of hearing and sense of smell in combination.
My theory is that when one zombie smells a human, the zombie’s groaning will attract other zombies. Having multiple zombies attack increases the likelihood of successfully infecting a new host. By covering ones sent with that of a zombie would work similar to how hunters use deer urine.

I’m assuming methods of contracting the disease would be orally and through the blood. Though it would increase your chances of infecting yourself. This method can be used successfully if one is careful enough to not have open wounds, soars and an unprotected mouth and eyes.

To test this method you could present yourself to a dog. I remember in WWZ the Israelis used dogs as zombie detectors. They would growl if a person had become infected despite appearing healthy. I’m guessing they use their strong sense of smell to do this. Given that a dog’s sense of smell is much stronger than a humans it should be much stronger than a zombie’s. So if you can get a dog to think you’re a zombie I’m sure zombies will not be able to tell the difference either.

Sorry if I wrote too much. I hope someone reads at least parts of it.

TLDR: Hiding your scent might work, don’t get yourself infected. Test it with a dog.

]]> By: Ryan http://www.zombiesarecoming.com/2008/06/27/using-sense-of-smell-against-the-undead-to-save-the-living/#comment-73401 Ryan Thu, 14 Aug 2008 17:47:34 +0000 http://www.zombiesarecoming.com/2008/06/27/using-sense-of-smell-against-the-undead-to-save-the-living/#comment-73401 PROOF THAT ZOMBIES CAN BE FOOLED BY SMELL: This eyewitness account from the survivors of the New Milford, Conn. zombie outbreak of 2007: http://welltoldtales.com/2007/07/03/deaths-a-bitch/ (Kick-ass audio story) PROOF THAT ZOMBIES CAN BE FOOLED BY SMELL:

This eyewitness account from the survivors of the New Milford, Conn. zombie outbreak of 2007:

http://welltoldtales.com/2007/07/03/deaths-a-bitch/

(Kick-ass audio story)

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