The Sunday News
Phineas Chauke
DAY in day out animals strive to stay alive, the possibility of being turned into a meal by another animal is high, especially for the herbivorous animals. The size of an animal is a critical factor in determining how to take it down.
Predators don’t normally take down prey much bigger than themselves unless hunting in numbers.
Interspecific association is when different animals group together as they go about their daily activities. This is also referred to as aggregation and it enhances the survival chances of the animals as they complement one another’s strength in detecting predators and evading them.
Some species such as impala have good eyesight and they quickly alert others when they see danger. Others such as baboons have great hearing senses while others have acute senses of smell. The whole idea is to make sure that if a predator is not sniffed by those with a good sense of smell, it will be picked by those who have great sight or hearing and the whole crowd is saved.
While the majority of prey animals would rely on running away and hiding from predators, others will collectively charge aggressively against the predator. Baboons normally exhibit this behaviour, commonly known as mobbing when one of them is attacked. Various species of birds may also gang up against a raptor or a snake as a means of resisting predation. Eventually the aggressor flees away and while in the case of baboons the predator faces real danger of being torn apart, in the case of birds the objective is usually just to annoy and frustrate the predator.
Animals that hide or freeze in the face of danger are those that have colouration that blends in with the environment. They either have cryptic colour combinations (such as puff adder) or they have plain colours that match their typical environment (such as green mamba).
By the way snakes, as feared by humans as they are, also face danger of predation by especially birds of prey such as brown snake eagle and bateleur.
Some animals will not necessarily get to the point of attacking their aggressor but they may bluff and create the impression that they are larger, scarier and more vicious than they really are.
This is meant to discourage the predator and induce the feeling that it is actually the one in danger. The honey badger is one example of mammals that bluff, while in reptiles, mambas and cobras do it and hiss to scare the attacker.
Bluffing has the effect of changing shape and size and sometimes colour of the animal, making it appear strange. Some animals, including fish, will develop spikes instantly and appear dangerous.
Faking death sometimes saves the day for vulnerable animals including fish and snakes in the face of danger. One of the snakes that are experts on feigning death is the rinkhals. It does it so well that anybody or any animals would be convinced it has been dead at least for hours to days. That turns off predators that are not carrion eaters, that need fresh kills.
A number of lizard species have a special way of diverting a predator’s attention from themselves and buy a bit of time to escape. Haven’t you ever wondered why whenever you hit a house gecko it always breaks its tail. It is definitely not because you always hit the tail. If you hit the head it will break the tail, in fact even if you miss it narrowly it will drop the tail. Whenever they are threatened, some lizards drop a body organ, most commonly the tail (caudal autotomy) though others will drop a leg to give you something to focus on while they make their escape.
Chemical defence is another means that animals across classes and even phylae use to stay alive. Some bugs when touched begin to stink. The polecat will raise its tail and secrete a foul smelling substance from its anal glands when threatened while the waterbuck will emit an oily substance that stinks all over its body whenever it perceives danger.
Other animals will imitate some dangerous, especially poisonous creature in colour or sound in order to scare off potential predators. Who would knowingly eat poison? There are plenty more means utilised by animals but we cannot exhaust them here but believe you me when I say some will even eat the predator so that it doesn’t eat them.
– Phineas Chauke is a Bulawayo- based tourism consultant, marketer and tour guide. He can be contacted on +263776058523, [email protected] and twitter @phinnychauke619
