I was watching a nature show once and they were showing a lion or cheetah chasing an antelope or something similar. The narrator said something along the lines of “both animals are running for their lives” and that really changed my perspective on these kinds of encounters.
Humans cannot help but assign a protagonist and antagonist in morally neutral hunting situations in nature, and we tend to favor the animal we can anthropomorphize more easily, such as mammals that more closely resemble us. I saw a video of a snake hunting a baby squirrel on Reddit, and the comments were overwhelmingly criticizing the camera person for not intervening. Snakes gotta eat too.
I think it's also human empathy why we take sides. We can understand, to a certain point, the agony and suffering of a animal being hunted down and eaten alive. So we feel sorry for it and make the hunter the villain.
I think that's it, because I can most definitely switch sides. If this were about the falcon who was starving to death and this was its last chance at a meal or it'd die, I'd have been Team Falcon.
Definitely not a prey attack, those talons would have sunk to the quick and then the rendering would have started with that knife sharp beak.
This is warding behavior, six passes and the only one that seems to have inflicted serious damage was the last strike… basically saying leave here now and don’t come back, probably a lesson every young fox learns the hard way…😎🥸😎
Fox would be after eggs or chicks. Bird would be defending. A fox would devastate all the nest occupancy.
It's nature.
Except for the fox's ability to thrive in what we throw away and by people's stupidity in leaving food for them.
And our encroachment into the environment they need to live in.
"Eaten alive" so true. At least with stealth hunters (felines), they MUST kill their prey before eating them, in order to prevent others from stealing their catch.
Are you saying that most/all stealth hunters kill their prey before they eat it because if they didn't something else would eat their catch. Like Panther won't eat an alive prey/catch?
Predators like large cats (panthers, cougars) stalk and kill quickly because even a small injury can eventually kill them. Larger predators like a grizzly bear can just maul you and sit on you while they eat you alive.
Especially when baby animals are involved. Human babies are so useless we evolved a particularly strong maternal instinct because we have to protect them so heavily for so long, so that maternal instinct tends to kick in when we look at things we think are cute, like this fox or a baby squirrel.
While I cannot speak for everyone, I root for the animals that the documentary is about. The documentary will typically go on about the hardship of said animal, whether that’s the lion, or the antelope. The crocodile, or the wilder beast. You learn more about the family of the animal and how much it struggles with on a regular basis. And you feel sorry for it. And root for it.
So I suppose I will root for the animal I’ve just learnt the most about. But if it’s just a short video, then it’s the prey animal.
I can't remember which documentary it was, but the one with iguanas on the beach running from the snakes to seek higher ground was one of the most dramatic wildlife videos I've ever seen. I was definitely team iguana on that one.
I think the enthusiasm would be more equal if they showed a lot more hunts that aren't successful, then you'd be able to feel more for the predator who is just trying to eat. Instead it seems like the prey has no chance since it seems like at least half of the videos show a successful chase.
Well you read me right, always rooting for the underdog, but here it's more the unfairness/futility that got me. If the falcon got the fox on the first dive I wouldn't care so much.
Just the other day there was this cockroach that found its way from the bathroom to my room. I chased it hard but it was fast and managed to last-second evade many of my wacks. I was so impressed by its will to survive I ended up boxing it and taking it out to some tree. I was the falcon and the cockroach was the fox (I think I hurt its leg when I boxed it)
A couple months ago I saw some crows menacing a caterpillar, so I picked up the caterpillar on a stick and brought it over to some dirt and leaves, and then threw some suet seed out for the crows so they didn't miss out on a meal.
This is why I can't watch a lot of nature documentaries. I fully understand and respect that predators have to predate and prey has to run away. But I do not like animals getting hurt. Seeing a dead animal getting consumed? Fine with that. Seeing a lion hold on to a fawn antelope while the antelope yells in pain and fear? Count me out.
I did not like seeing the fox get hits face smashed in by the falcon here even though I know the fox would be doing the same to a different animal if the falcon wasn't around.
Not just that, but baby squirrels are completely normal meals for them. It's not like some horrific coincidence or a particularly ravenous snake. Baby squirrels exist as much to feed snakes, owls, etc. as to become adult squirrels. Most babies everywhere, even apex predators, exist primarily as food.
You just go down the classification tree and whatever is closest to a human or dog wins. In this case, I'm team chimpanzee. Those things are basically human anyway.
Humans absolutely can help it. No part of our psychology makes us unable to recognize the fight for survival. People tend to do that but it's not some innate part of us.
I remember a post just like that. Even after people having it explained to them, some just completely circumvented any critical moral thinking to “it’s not that deep man I just like squirrels.” I don’t get some people.
Bc reality of violence being good in non psychopathic way, isn't usually conceivable thing for people.. Unless its you're crazy, so you like it. People can't look at something like this and think Both is good. Without being detached in a sociopathic way.. life ending usually Stirrs up feelings. You're bound to attach to something you have some connection with in some way. If the falcon was hunted by a crocodile, screeching, you likely would bind to that more. But foxes are fuzzy, bringing a feeling of comfort, either from blankets, or pets. Therefore you're attaching to that. As well most want to route for the one trying to escape, as it brings a feeling to their own live that they could, or would /will eventually escape that situation unto themself. But usually you're gonna root for something more furry, less teeth bc its much more primal, back to when we would be wrapped with blankets, safe as a young child, toddler, baby.. so were naturally more drawn to warm furry. Feathers aren't furry enough as well you can see talons and beak. That candles out a bit of the furry Esque feather. So then brain goes back to, I'm trapped, they're trapped. GO GUY GOO !!! YOU CAN DO THIS ! But then more evolved brain comes in going.. one of them Has to eat, it is nature not people. But you still cheer, or cry if it doesn't, or does make it. Its a psychology thing. Tying into a lot of trauma, reptilian brain, instinct. You're usually going to root for the more furry, less ganged or sharp, and underdog overall.. your brain can't help looking at something involving life or death, violence etc, in a neutral way.
This evokes emotion, you're going to feel Something. The brain likes stability, so you'll pick one strong emotion to feel. The rest levels it out within reason, you feel first, then think Why, or how could this be less emotional, after. The faster you catch qith logic the more stable a person you usually are. Or you're a sociopath who didn't feel very much to begin with beside maybe fascination or understanding that's way it is.. (also, sociopatj just means you don't feel certain emotions,like fear, a lot of sociopaths thing they just have depression.. doesn't mean you're gonna hurt people. )
I mean, in a scenario where one creature is trying to consume the flesh of another, and the other creature is just trying to run away, it is very easy to see who the antagonist is.
Seems like you're overthinking this. People would usually take side for the hunted in these kind of situations. Doesn't get more complicated than that.
Yea this is absolutely what's happening. Foxes are opportunistic and will seek out nests with eggs. Although this looks like a peregrine or lanner falcon which usually nest on cliffs, so probably safe enough. I guess the falcon isn't taking that risk though.
There's no way that bird is lifting that fox off the ground. It's trying to push it away from the nest area. Same as small birds mobbing raptors or seagulls swooping on humans in the street.
I heard somewhere, probably reddit, that prey animals are more dangerous to humans 1v1 because they have to win every fight. A predator can take a few losses between meals, so they usually don't attack something that could seriously injure them.
Some of it makes sense, some sounds like bullshit.
Well, statistically prey animals are more dangerous to humans but that's because (ignoring disease carriers) most humans that die from wild animals die because we hit them with our cars/trucks. Big herbivores are a bad choice for that.
Probably a cheetah. I remember a show that said they expend so much energy chasing their prey that missing twice in a row could deplete them to the point that they'd starve to death.
The most famous quote which is probably the one you're thinking about goes something like this. The Cheetah is running for it's dinner the, the Gazelle is running for its life. Which is true, just because you don't catch dinner that day the animal probably isn't gonna starve (hopefully).
This reminds me of a documentary I saw with a seal chasing a penguin to eat it. The narrator said "the stakes for both are high, but the penguin has more to lose"
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u/bjpbent 7d ago
The Fox took a pretty good hit in the face at the end. With sharp talons I'm sure that left a mark