I’m assuming, because survival is a fear-based modality, that prey tend to lean towards flight rather than offensive moves.
But are there prey who go searching for predators, who in response, feign injury to lure them in – aside from humans?
Football player.
Not prey, but coyotes will send one packmate out to trick a dog into following it to the rest of the pack. Kind of like the assassin bug in the earlier examples I guess.
Yes, it can be considered part of aggressive mimicry.
Most examples are pretending to be another animal that is prey but the assassin bug example is interesting…
S. bituberus approaches the web and then uses its forelimbs to pluck the silk to attract the spider towards them, until they are close enough to strike (Wignall and Taylor, 2010). The experiments carried out by Wignall and Taylor (2010) show that S. bituberus does not mimic the full range of prey vibrations but instead is a general mimic, able to replicate a set of vibration queues that sit within the range of vibrations that a spider identifies as a prey.
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Yes, the worst animal of all: humans
Some birds feign injury to lure predators away from their nest (and the eggs/young inside,) but this isn’t to attack them, it’s to distract the predator. Once they’re away form the nest they fly off.
But no, no prey goes out looking for predators and then attacks them.
Most prey will only be aggressive if the predator comes into their space. Large mammals typically respond with aggression- buffalo, elephants, other cows. Horses. They’re all more than capable of killing individual predators- which is why wolves or lions will only go after them in larger packs or prides.
Yes. My ex.
Is your ex my ex?
Very likely. She got around.
Wouldn’t that make them a predator and not prey? Usually in the food chain, an animal that is a predator wouldn’t be the prey of it’s prey.
Exceptions might exist, some people could probably answer better than me
Edit: google says there are, like Jaguars and Anacondas, Pike and Perch, as well as Spiders and Ants. Interesting!
Edit 2: https://www.bbcearth.com/news/meet-the-fakers-of-nature
Apparently some animals mimic prey animals to lure predators who become their prey 🤔
Prey-dators
Dogs have been documented to feign injury to manipulate people.
