Zombie Defense - dry moat?

[Traditional_Ale]

Originally Posted by J pold

Can zombies starve to death? I mean if they can be shot and killed shouldn't the susceptible to starvation as well?

Do YOU like eating poo?

[The Yen Man]

I agree with the Cracked article. Realistically, mother nature would take care of any zombie infestation if they're really just walking dead carcasses. Let's see a zombie try to survive in Calgary right now. You just let winter do its thing, and voila, zombie icicles.

[Teh_Bandwagoner]

Originally Posted by The Yen Man

I agree with the Cracked article. Realistically, mother nature would take care of any zombie infestation if they're really just walking dead carcasses. Let's see a zombie try to survive in Calgary right now. You just let winter do its thing, and voila, zombie icicles.

Would frost kill a zombie brain? Or simply preserve them until the spring thaw? I highly doubt frost burn would bother a zombie. The zombie exploding in heat sounds like it would be quite the sight though.

[The Yen Man]

But we can just wait until they're frozen and then go out and bash their brains in.

[FlameOn]

And lots of it

[Flashpoint]

Originally Posted by Teh_Bandwagoner

Would frost kill a zombie brain? Or simply preserve them until the spring thaw? I highly doubt frost burn would bother a zombie. The zombie exploding in heat sounds like it would be quite the sight though.

I'm thinking winter just freezes them, and doesn't kill them. You probably buy yourself a few months of security in the dead of winter where they are all solid. Come spring, it gets really sketchy.

The long term downside is that regardless of how many decades you wait, you know there are frozen zombies out there (mountaintops, glaciers, frozen on arctic ghost ships), that sooner or later are going to thaw and come south.

[Russic]

Originally Posted by J pold

Has anyone noticed that in a lot of zombie movies, they don't actually refer to them as zombies? Take The Walking Dead for example, walkers? What's with that? I mean if I saw one of those things the last thing I would call it is a walker, it's clearly a zombie.

Also, why don't zombies attack other zombies!? Seems to me this is an unanswerable question, right next to the meaning of life and all that. You'd think they'd start eating each other before starving to death, but that just brings up another question. Can zombies starve to death? I mean if they can be shot and killed shouldn't the susceptible to starvation as well?

I get the impression that in zombie movies the concept of zombies is foreign. They seem to exist in a world where the idea never occurred to anybody.

If I understand zombies correctly they only feast on living flesh.

28 Days Later covered the starvation thing. In traditional lore I believe they are the undead, but in many instances they are just infected with something, so in the latter scenario they do starve to death.

[Flashpoint]

Originally Posted by Nage Waza

Instead of a moat, you need a tall wall. Several forts with tall walls with zip lines attaching them. The zombies will come to press against the walls, but eventually they will be so thick it will prevent more zombies from approaching. I assume we are dealing with the slow zombies. They are not strong, just relentless. The zombies closest to the wall will be squished and won't be able to do anything. I don't think zombies at the back will start walking on top of the group, they just gather together.

The zip lines allow you to go to your other bases that are also surrounded by tall walls. You just keep switching and the zombies will follow! I would have decoys so that if there are too many on one wall, you send someone out to lure them away. You could even open the door to your fort, let them all in, then lock them in. Do they ever eat each other? I assume the whole herd of them will get tricked from fort to fort without ever figuring things out.

You may eventually run out of bullets, so I think locking them in until they starve is the way to go, but do they starve? I assume slingshots and rocks will causes damage, especially if they are packed in tight enough.

You might even try cargo nets to lift some up high and drop them. A series of pulleys may make this relatively easy! Even dropping loads of rocks on their heads will slowly reduce their numbers. As long as you do not make a lot of noise they don't seem to follow.

What I like about this theory is that we all know from soccer stadiums that if you get enough people together pushing from the back, the people at the front get crushed to death. And Zombies love to push.

So you get yourself a nice sturdy castle and basically make as much noise as you can from the ramparts. Zombies show up, and start to press against the walls. Eventually the ones at the front get trampled.

Eventually the number gets reduced sufficiently for you to start slaughtering them in the method you so choose.

I recommend a katana. It'll never run out of bullets.

[Ozy_Flame]

I think it depends if it's "28 Days Later" zombies or George Romero-ish zombies. Either/or, a series of Tesla Coils to burn them to a crisp on the spot would be a good solution.

[octothorp]

If the zombies are actually aggravated by the human scent, I think an awesome defense would be some sort of human scent stink bomb. Fire it into a crowd of zombies and watch them tear one-another (and possibly themselves) apart.

[Nage Waza]

Originally Posted by Flashpoint

What I like about this theory is that we all know from soccer stadiums that if you get enough people together pushing from the back, the people at the front get crushed to death. And Zombies love to push.

So you get yourself a nice sturdy castle and basically make as much noise as you can from the ramparts. Zombies show up, and start to press against the walls. Eventually the ones at the front get trampled.

Eventually the number gets reduced sufficiently for you to start slaughtering them in the method you so choose.

I recommend a katana. It'll never run out of bullets.

I thought of having small holes built into the bottoms of walls to stab swords through, but am no structural engineer and was worried about stability. The walls have to be very strong, but maybe only the bottom ten feet or so need to be super strong? The rest is straight up another thirty feet to prevent zombies from falling over the top and to allow a height that will provide enough time for a dropped rock to speed up to a fatal speed upon landing on a zombie head.

If there are holes that a zombie can stick their arms through, then the hot blond chick would lean against that portion of the wall to get eaten, and we don't want that.

You could even built large scall traps to kill zombies. Build a long hallways (just two long parallel walls) that you lure zombies through. You must have two large trees on either side. Attach a long tree trunk by rope to both trees, and as the zombies approach you release the trunk Ewok style to kill zombies. You can then score points on how many you get at once!

[CaptainCrunch]

You guys aren't thinking outside of the box. Build a huge treadmill with a human brain hanging on the end, you'll have an unlimited source of power.

And it'll be green friendly.

[jammies]

My preference is for an armoured train with heavy machineguns up top. I'll be in the Glorious Leader car in my velvet smoking jacket reading Archie comic books as we leave a trail of zombie gore across the plains.

[Muta]

I agree with the zipline theory. All you need is elevated rendezvous points connected by ziplines. zombies wouldn't stand a chance, they'd just fall in the crevices or holes or whatever exists in between the ziplines.

Could be just a hole, could be a river, could be quicksand, could be lava, could be a Rancor Pit, could be trampolines (which would be hilarious)... the possibilities are endless.

[CaptainCrunch]

What if its a zombie rancor and won't eat its own kind?

[kirant]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

Why not fill the moat with sulphuric acid, I mean sure eventually you'd have a really disgusting moat filled with burning slush but hey it would be amusing.

I propose using a zombie sized bug zapper on your front porch with a scented candle that smells like human.

I think you'd need to re-concentrate your sulphuric acid once in a while though...good luck with that part.

Anyways, I wouldn't bother with that. Just finish this thing and you're set:

[Yanda]

Zombies dont kill, They Recruit.

[Lil Pedro]

If its the 28 Days Later zombies then we are all screwed. Those things run like Forrest Gump and spit blood...basically my nightmare

[FlameFanStuckinEDM]

I think you would need multiple dry moats. As long as it is a small area, around your farm for example, and you have the time. Dig 3 of them, as deep as you can, around your property and use the dirt from the moats to build up a wall behind the 3rd moat. As the zombies fall into the moat, you can walk up and stab them in the brain. As the moat fills up, you can have the safety of the other 2, while you spend time cleaning out the first one. You may also need to shore up the walls of the moats in order to avoid them falling in from rain or from the clawing zombies.

You would also need to build a drawbridge for your vehicle to be able to drive out and gather supplies. If your farm is connected to an underground water well, you should be set. Grow your own food and have your own source of water. You would only need to leave to gather fuel and other wanted items.

This is of course assuming that the zombies are slow, not the super athletes that Zack Snyder showed.

[Nage Waza]

CaptainCrunch, this is my outside the box idea:

You build a giant seesaw, with a brain hanging from each end. The horde walk up one end and eventually fall off and plummet to their death. The system just keep going. If you really wanted, have each end sit over a pool of crocodiles to take care of the bodies.

You may also have a coil and magnet under each end of the seesaw to provide power.