MYTHS ABOUT RAW FEEDING
MYTH: WOLVES EAT THE STOMACH CONTENTS OF THEIR PREY.
This is false! Only if the prey is small enough (like the size of a rabbit) will they eat the stomach contents, which just happen to get consumed with the entire animal. Otherwise, wolves will shake out the stomach contents of their large herbivorous prey before sometimes eating the stomach wall. Even on a common sense level this could be proven false. Stomach acids have a pH near 1, which means they are incredibly acidic and bitter. The acid attacking the plant matter is strong enough to burn the enamel off teeth. Why would any self-respecting wolf willingly stick its nose into something that will burn its skin, burn the enamel of its teeth, and severely burn its lips and esophagus? No, wolves do NOT eat the stomach contents of their prey. The following quotations are taken from L. David Mech's 2003 book Wolves: Behavior, Ecology, and Conservation. Mech (and the others who contributed to this book) is considered the world's leading wolf biologist, and this book is a compilation of 350 collective years of research, experiments, and careful field observations. These quotes are taken from chapter 4, The Wolf as a Carnivore.
"Wolves usually tear into the body cavity of large prey and...consume the larger internal organs, such as lungs, heart, and liver. The large rumen [, which is the main stomach compartment in large herbivores except horses,]...is usually punctured during removal and its contents spilled. The vegetation in the intestinal tract is of no interest to the wolves, but the stomach lining and intestinal wall are consumed, and their contents further strewn about the kill site." (pg.123, emphasis added)
"To grow and maintain their own bodies, wolves need to ingest all the major parts of their herbivorous prey, except the plants in the digestive system." (pg.124, emphasis added).
From the mouths of the wolf experts themselves, who have observed countless numbers of kills: wolves do NOT eat the stomach contents of their large prey, and are carnivorous animals.
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