Why are they in herds?
I was just thinking about this as I was typing up a chapter for my fanficiton (nearing the part in which they have to get the train going again to lose the herd). And I thought to myself;
"Why the hell do they come in herds?"
I get that the train was loud and that would explain that herd, but I'm talking about herds that didn't accumulate because of excessive noise. Why are they travelling in herds? If Chompers are only interested in things living, why do they travel together? Is that some sort of instinct that is built into them along with the virus; to move when there's no "food"? Why are they even nomadic in the first place? Why don't they just stay in the same area and wait for food to waltz by?
Just a thing to get those brain juices going.
Comments
They have a basic sense of herd mentality. Herds don't necessarily form solely because of sounds, but because of zombies copying one another's behavior. For example, if a zombie sees another zombie banging on a door, it will probably walk over and also start banging on it. If a zombie sees a group of zombies traveling in a certain direction, they'll likely start walking in the same direction as well. Basic 'monkey see, monkey do' stuff.
Usually herds form as a combination of sound and herd mentality-- the first group get attracted by a noise, start wandering in the direction of it. Other zombies see them and join in. Then that group of zombies run into other groups, who also join. Rinse and repeat until you have a whole herd of them just aimlessly wandering in the direction of a sound they've already forgotten, until something else gets their attention.
As for why they're nomadic, its mainly because of instinct-- sounds, movement, and sights generally equate to food. So when they hear something, or otherwise sense movement, they follow it. However, there are some zombies in this universe that do sit around and wait for stuff to come to them-- the so-called lurkers that essentially play dead or stay in one spot until something gets near them. Usually, these zombies are ones that have suffered an injury that hampers their movement, or otherwise died in a spot that doesn't see much activity, resulting in the zombie pretty much going dormant due to a lack of stimulation.
That's actually pretty interesting!